The “Intelligent” Domination of Digital Capital and the Restoration of the Subject-Reflecting upon Feenberg’s Path of “Technological Democracy”

In the era of digitalization, artificial intelligence has become a powerful force that profoundly impacts the world and reconfigures individual lives. Digital capital, due to the its covet manipulation of intelligent technologies, has shaped AI into a tool that meets the interests of capital and the inappropriate design and application of AI has led to the concealment of subject production, the absence of authentic interactions, and the alienation of genuine needs. Andrew Feenberg, through the notion of “technological code,” deconstructs the essence of technology as a convergence of tools and culture, exposing deep-rooted issues within the realm of technological design. He proposes a transformative path that emphasizes public interest and seeks to restore subjectivity through technological democracy. By engaging with Feenberg’s ideas on technological democracy, valuable insights are provided to transcend the dominion of the intelligent-digital capitalism. It is crucial to promptly regulate the improper application of capital power on artificial intelligence and employ multiple strategies to guide artificial intelligence toward ethical development. Only by doing so can we break free from the dominion of “intelligence” and achieve the restoration of subjectivity at a higher level.