Matteo Pasquinelli
from The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence (2023)
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What is the “labor theory of the machine”? Try to describe how a particular design tool (as hardware or software) imitates and replaces a previous division of labor in the design production process. Describe this contemporary “machine” in the terms of the theory that the text elucidates. At the same time, produce a portrait that is imaginary and fantastical — an image of a monster that confronts the human design worker.