Techno-solutionism is currently being pushed as the ultimate solution to complex social, political and ecological problems. This is based on the assertion that these problems exist as a result of the failure of democratic institutions, all of which should be replaced by a system primarily or exclusively based on technological innovation. In this view, technology is viewed as inherently neutral, efficient and progressive. Therefore, based on the ideology that reduces societal crises to engineering problems, they believe that automation, algorithms, platforms and data-driven systems should replace messy costly bureaucratic human institutions. Technosolutionism is at its heart a denial or an obscurement of underlying mechanisms of power, inequality, exploitation and governance. Techno-solutionism reinforces existing hierarchies, it legitimizes corporate power and influence over public life, while bringing into question democracy, and proposing technical fixes to all societal problems.

In reality, techno-solutionism and the proposed models of AI-powered future societies are in the hands of a few tech-billionaires who are in the forefront of AI-revolution. Along with the deployment of impactful AI models in recent years, many tech-billionaires have started peddling the idea of AI-powered governance, a model that is proposed to correct the “failure of democratic systems”, as they claim. More recently, major AI actors and lobby groups managed to delay the implementation of EU AI Act under the guise of “competitiveness”. It should also be noted that the AI revolution is not driven by democratic institutions but by a handful of corporations who also “happen” to hold extremely anti-democratic views. The question is whether we all have to accept to live in technologically advanced societies of ultimate control where all aspects of human life, even humans are turned into commodities? Are there any alternatives?

We argue that a post-capitalist technologically advanced future is possible. There is no historical or scientific necessity for a future that is organized around profit extraction. Why would it be impossible to imagine a society with shared stewardship of automated infrastructures and other alternatives grounded in cooperative robotics and data commons? Why can’t we treat robots and AI systems as collectively owned productive forces, managed...

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