@mpesce I prefer to think in terms of corporations as being very slow AIs, executing procedures to copy themselves into the future by any available means. "Capitalism" in that context is simply the vector sum of their interacting goal-seeking behaviours. No mind, just blind iteration as it expands to absorb all available resources.

And "human attention" is a very low-level but useful resource.

@cstross @mpesce YES absolutely right. and they're not even that slow in some operations (setting stock and commodity prices, for example). the evil AI that will immiserate the planet for its own gain has been here all along