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"Croce, Nicholas"
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Chatbot Democracy
Abstract
What will be the role of chatbots in 21st century democratic processes? Considering the potential implementations of artificial intelligence (AI) “chatbots” or large language models (LLMs) with a natural language processing (NLP) interface for use in public administration, policy-making, and deliberative democratic processes, this essay explores representative and access-boosting roles for such chatbots: how they could supplement constituent services, increase access to government programs, facilitate deliberation, and perhaps even act as posthuman representatives within a deliberative democratic process. The essay reviews the burgeoning, multi-disciplinary academic literature dealing with the use of chatbots in both government and deliberative contexts—literature that probes questions of utility, representational ethics, equity and access. The essay concludes with an itinerary for further thinking and research, emphasizing the importance of both impact and formative evaluation.
Journal Article
Interrogating the Interaction between Relative Surplus Population and Forms of Economic Production
The following paper interrogates how the nature of a phase of capitalism impacts the structure of the workforce. In Nick Srnicek’s book, Platform Capitalism, he posits that the world has entered a new phase of capitalism that is dominated by the “platform” form of firms. Platforms are unique in the history of capitalism because of the confluence of a few key factors: the centrality of data in sociality, the keen power to monetize information, the ability to leverage the positionality of the platform as transaction mediator for profit, as well as other “network effects” that make platforms more desirable—and lucrative—as they get bigger. This study explores the question of how a capitalist economic structure like Platform Capitalism could impact the structure of a given society’s relative surplus population, specifically the stagnant and floating subcategories of workers. Platform Capitalism features five subcategories of platforms, each with its own distinct approach to value production. To conduct this analysis, the paper explores two subcategories of Platform Capitalism: on-demand and lean platforms. The central question here is, could Platform Capitalism function most efficiently under a certain proportion of latent, floating, and stagnant populations, and shape the labor force accordingly? This question is important because the rise of Platform Capitalism could, merely by its operation in society, change the structure of the relative surplus population if its firms require a different proportion between subpopulations than the preceding dominant structure. If so, this could lend a unique facet of competition between subcategories of firms. Karl Marx was clear that relative surplus populations play an indispensable function for capitalism. The research at hand explores the incentives and disincentives a given stage of capitalism provides for firms vis-à-vis a certain relative surplus population structure.
Journal Article
Anarchism, Revolution, and Terrorism
This title is an indispensable resource for those who are interested in the ways that small ideological groups can and have overthrown governments to further their political agendas. Spanning history, this resource looks at some of the most famous revolutionary groups, their beliefs, and the ways in which they achieved their goals. From national revolutions to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this book shows how revolutionaries have changed the world, for both good and evil.
eBook
Extended Commentary
In this Extended Commentary, Nicholas Croce argues that electronic technology and capital have changed the way people interact, form identity, and by extension, the way we are governed.
Journal Article
Predicting the Fifth Phase: Interpellation, World Systems Theory, and the Fall of Nation-States
Electronic technology and capital are inextricably tied. Today more than ever, it is hard to distinguish one from the other. The predominant medium for capital transfer and accumulation, electronic technology supports capitalists in the creation of further capital. In the United States, the divergence between workers' wages and productivity--where wages have grown by 9% since 1973, while productivity has grown by a whopping 72%--is due, in some significant portion, to workers' use of technology to enhance their ability to create capital. Relatedly, outside of the mode of production, electronic technology has become a significant means of entertainment, social networking, communication, commerce, education, and more. In some respects, the nature of postmodern technology makes it difficult to discern between these things. This paper argues that electronic technology and capital have changed the way people interact, form identity, and by extension, the way we are governed. In this cultural milieu, ultramodern capital calls out and names ultramodern subjects. In a way, through the colonization of their minds and genetic material, they themselves are transformed into capital.
Journal Article
The Return of Inequality: Social Change and the Weight of the Past
Croce reviews The Return of Inequality: Social Change and the Weight of the Past by Mike Savage.
Book Review