Objective Fetishism as a Source of Technocracy and the Illusion of the Exceptionalism of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the determinants of technocratic thinking, specifically AI, which is a historical form of technocracy. The real foundation of this illusory consciousness (delusion) is the system of fetishistic social relations at the stage of the next turn of society's " hystory spiral". Here, "deep" historical-dialectical contradictions ("continuity – destruction") and sociocultural dominants arise, leading to the uncritical acceptance of spiritual and scientific innovations as the root causes of historical progress. "Partial" subjects of spiritual labor accept illusory objective fetishes as genuine reality  automatically ("by default"). Consequently, they equate reflection with consciousness in essence, and dogmatically identify technology with the root cause of social progress in general, and scientific and technical communication, in particular, with their supernatural "cosmic" exclusivity or mission. The author demonstrates that modern digital technologies (DT) and AI have significant historical significance. However, they are not identical to scientific and technological progress (STP) as a whole, which also includes other priority ("existential") components. The article briefly addresses the historical forms of STP, beginning with the economic and scientific revolution that occurred in England at the end of the 16th century.