The Ideology of the Neural Network: Artificial Intelligence, Neoliberal Economics, and Reactionary Politics

This paper examines the historical relationship between neo-liberal economic theory, psychological ideas of networked neurons and the development of the neural network as a machine learning technology. The reconceptualization of the human and the machine that unfolded between the 1950’s and 1970’s arguably has considerable bearing on contemporary artificial intelligence. Situating contemporary artificial intelligence within a history of reason, the Cold War, and financialization, this history opens to a critical reflection on the relationship between AI, finance, and alt-right politics in our present. This paper suggests that the neural network is one of the fundamental ideological, metaphorical, and technical figures facilitating this transfer from the nature of human biology to the organization of technical and economic systems. The paper also hopes to suggest how this history might be deployed to situate, contest, and reimagine ‘intelligence’ for a future more diverse and equitable AI.