As new transformations take shape in an increasingly digital world of work, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has claimed a prominent spot in headlines, alongside apocalyptic narratives predicting the end of human work in a “futuristic world ruled by Algorithms."

However, rather than a sweeping displacement of human labor by AI, we are witnessing the proliferation of digital workers across the globe—particularly in the Global South—performing microtasks for a few cents per click, endlessly training the very intelligence that is supposedly meant to replace them.

This paper offers a theoretical analysis grounded in Karl Marx's Capital and his writings on alienation and ideology to critically examine the role of AI within contemporary capitalism. Drawing on the critique of political economy, it explores how the development of AI reproduces the fundamental contradictions in capitalist technological advancement since the industrial era.

Moreover, by treating technology as an autonomous, deterministic force, the dominant narrative obscures the real consequences of AI's expansion: on the one hand, it accelerates the valorization of capital by enhancing productive forces more rapidly and efficiently; on the other, it erodes labor conditions, relegating masses of the digital proletariat to unstable and low-wage jobs.

Our findings demonstrate capitalism's inherent tendency to produce appearances that obscure underlying social relations. The ideological assumptions behind AI—treating it as if it “walks on its own feet” and acts neutrally—conceal its profound dependence on the labor of millions of workers who sustain it daily, workers from whom vast amounts of surplus value are extracted, yet who do not see the outcome of their productive acts.

As Marx observed, technological machinery is only incorporated into production as long as it reduces costs—a contradiction reflected today as low-paid workers continue training AI systems that, paradoxically, have yet to “replace” them, precisely because doing so would require higher capital investment.

Therefore, this paper aims to summarize Marx's key ideas on the contradictory nature of technological development under capitalism and the ideological and alienating effects it produces. Our argument is that AI cannot be understood as autonomous; rather, it remains deeply dependent on the exploitation of human labor, with the contradictions of technological development under capitalism persisting in Artificial Intelligence.

By relating Marx's analysis to the context of AI advancements, this research seeks to contribute to a critical understanding of digital labor, which is essential for future resistance and organizing among digital workers.