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Main Authors: Korecki, Marcin, Carissimo, Cesare
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.16042
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author Korecki, Marcin
Carissimo, Cesare
author_facet Korecki, Marcin
Carissimo, Cesare
contents This paper investigates the concept of Labour as an expression of `timenergy' - a fusion of time and energy - and its entanglement within the system of Capital. We define Labour as the commodified, quantifiable expansion of timenergy, in contrast to Capital, which is capable of accumulation and abstraction. We explore Labour's historical evolution, its coercive and alienating nature, and its transformation through automation and artificial intelligence. Using a game-theoretic, agent-based simulation, we model interactions between Capital and Labour in production processes governed by Cobb-Douglas functions. Our results show that despite theoretical symmetry, learning agents disproportionately gravitate toward capital-intensive processes, revealing Capital's superior organizational influence due to its accumulative capacity. We argue that Capital functions as an artificially alive system animated by the living Labour it consumes, and question whether life can sustain itself without the infrastructures of Capital in a future of increasing automation. This study offers both a critique of and a framework for understanding Labour's subjugation within the Capital system.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_16042
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Does Capital Dream of Artificial Labour?
Korecki, Marcin
Carissimo, Cesare
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
This paper investigates the concept of Labour as an expression of `timenergy' - a fusion of time and energy - and its entanglement within the system of Capital. We define Labour as the commodified, quantifiable expansion of timenergy, in contrast to Capital, which is capable of accumulation and abstraction. We explore Labour's historical evolution, its coercive and alienating nature, and its transformation through automation and artificial intelligence. Using a game-theoretic, agent-based simulation, we model interactions between Capital and Labour in production processes governed by Cobb-Douglas functions. Our results show that despite theoretical symmetry, learning agents disproportionately gravitate toward capital-intensive processes, revealing Capital's superior organizational influence due to its accumulative capacity. We argue that Capital functions as an artificially alive system animated by the living Labour it consumes, and question whether life can sustain itself without the infrastructures of Capital in a future of increasing automation. This study offers both a critique of and a framework for understanding Labour's subjugation within the Capital system.
title Does Capital Dream of Artificial Labour?
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.16042