Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: The Reality, Hype, and Danger of A.I.
Date: March 24, 2026
Host: Richard D. Wolff
Guest: Richard RJ Eskow

Episode Overview

This episode of Economic Update critically examines the economic, social, and political implications of artificial intelligence (AI). Host Richard D. Wolff is joined by journalist, leftist commentator, and former Bernie Sanders speechwriter Richard RJ Eskow. Together, they dissect the true nature of AI, its economic impact, who controls it, and what the left and workers can do to prevent AI from exacerbating inequality and undermining democracy. The discussion is grounded in a Marxian perspective, with a strong focus on ownership, control, and the need for public action.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

U.S. Economic Update and Context (00:20–13:18)

• Job Market Troubles:

  • In February 2026, the U.S. lost 92,000 jobs—the second-worst figure in a year.
  • Unemployment rate is up to 4.4%; about 7.5 million officially unemployed, not counting those who’ve given up looking or are involuntarily part-time.
  • "That's not a great economy, Mr. Trump. That's not even close."
    — Richard D. Wolff (03:05)

• Labor and Immigration Struggles:

  • Highlight of the Fast Food Workers Union in California creating protections for immigrant workers from ICE raids.
  • Over a quarter of fast food workers in CA are immigrants; ICE raids hurt whole communities, not just undocumented individuals.
  • Congressional funding for ICE suspended in response to growing outcry and worker action.

• Historical Parallels:

  • Comparison of today’s political direction to those taken after past capitalist crises (1929, 2008).
  • Shift to the right in times of crisis can lead to dangerous outcomes, as seen in 1930s Europe (fascism and war).
  • Today's imperial ambitions and economic policies are running into the hard limits of U.S. power and resources.

• Tariffs, Military Spending, and Deficits:

  • Trump’s tariffs and proposed massive military spending increase ($600 billion, up to $1.5 trillion) face no workable funding path—taxes or borrowing are both political and economic dead-ends.
  • U.S. credit rating downgraded due to unsustainable national debt.

Interview with Richard RJ Eskow on Artificial Intelligence

What Is AI—And What Isn’t It? (18:46–20:28)

• AI is not intelligence in the human sense; rather, it's a "set of systems that take an enormous amount of data... to predict what will happen," mostly by surveillance and imitation.
• "Imagine 30 years ago your landlord... puts microphones in every room... That's what AI is on a massive level. It just can be very impressive, that's all. It's doing a very sophisticated version of imitation." — RJ Eskow (19:39)

AI: Clever Tool or Overhyped Threat? (20:28–23:32)

• Massive Hype vs. Real Innovation:

  • Much of what is said about AI radically transforming life is hype; the real impact is an interesting, sometimes helpful, technical advance.
  • The disruption—especially loss of jobs—comes if corporations use AI solely for profit:
    • "Can it displace a lot of people? Sure... Especially if corporations only care about the bottom line, which we know, that's all they do."
      — RJ Eskow (21:55)
  • The more workers are replaced, the more the technology may stagnate ("technology starts to decay") due to lack of new input.

• Comedic Value in Failure:

  • Wolff jokes about robots in call centers producing more frustration than help—"It's made to order for comedy." (23:32)
  • Eskow: "The robot won't sound like a robot. It will sound reasonably like a human, but like a human who suddenly says bizarre, strange things or completely misleads you." (24:10)

Effects on Culture and Work (24:38–25:55)

• AI changing the arts, creativity, and journalism:
  • "More and more talented people are using it...It's changed media because newspapers are using it to write articles. It's terrible at it, but they do it anyway." (24:50)
  • AI-generated music, writing, and art is often unoriginal, making it harder for truly creative people to break through.

Social Controls and Public Ownership (25:55–28:46)

• Public Resource, Not Corporate Fiefdom:

  • Eskow argues AI should be "publicly owned, publicly controlled"—companies are mining our data without our consent or benefits.
  • "We could contract with them to extract our resource if we want, but I think it should be publicly owned...They don't have the right to take our creative work or our analytical work and use it for their own purposes." (26:10)
  • Minimum demand: treat AI platforms as public utilities; ideally, move to public ownership and democratic guidance.

• Transparency and Consent:

  • AI must not interact with humans without clear labeling.
  • The process of data collection/addiction should be subject to public input and control.
  • "If working people's skills are being used to put them out of work, they should reap the benefits of that." (27:29)

The Power Structure and AI (28:14–29:53)

• The current reality is the opposite of public oversight: "Private corporations ... have cornered this and are not going to allow it to go in the direction you just argued for." — Wolff (28:14)
• Eskow: “Our own resources and skills and time are being used to make the incredibly wealthy even wealthier. They're being used to consolidate power and control.” (28:46)
• Major data privacy violations have taken place—example: Elon Musk's group obtaining Social Security and Medicare data, "the greatest data theft in human history."

What Should We Do? (29:53–31:07)

• "We raise holy hell. We educate the public. We're already beginning to see...people are protesting even in my area right here, data center construction, because they're saying, you know, why didn't we get any say in this?" — RJ Eskow (29:56)
• The left has an opportunity to argue that if we all produce something (data, content, value), we should all have a say and a share in ownership/benefit.
• Ownership and control of productive resources—including tech—should be collective and democratic.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Wolff slams media/political hype:
  “Mr. Trump’s statements about the economy, like others that he makes, stand in an inverse relationship. The worse things get, the more he celebrates how wonderful they are." (04:15)

• Eskow on Surveillance Capitalism:
  "Imagine...your landlord...puts microphones in every room... You’d say, that's not right. You didn't tell me you were going to do that. That's what AI is on a massive level." (19:39)

• On AI and Jobs:
  “Can it displace a lot of people from their jobs? Sure. But especially if corporations only care about the bottom line, which we know, that is all they do.” (21:55)

• The True Solution:
  “Ideally, I think they should be publicly owned and democratically guided.” (27:34)

• Action for the Left:
  “We raise holy hell. We educate the public...if we all produce something together, whether it's workers at a factory or billions of people on the Internet, we ought to have a say in what happens. That's not radical, that's just common sense.” (29:56–30:54)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:20–13:18 — Economic and political updates: jobs, immigration, history.
• 13:32–18:46 — Transition to AI segment; guest intro.
• 18:46–20:28 — What is AI (“not intelligence”); surveillance and data mining analogy.
• 20:28–23:32 — AI’s real impacts vs. hype; effect on jobs; corporate motives.
• 23:32–24:38 — Comedy and call center robots.
• 24:38–25:55 — Creative industries, journalism, and AI’s cultural effect.
• 25:55–28:46 — Public ownership vs. corporate control, labeling, and consent.
• 28:46–29:53 — Government as tool of tech capitalists; data privacy and exploitation.
• 29:53–31:07 — What to do: public education, left opportunity, collective ownership.

Tone and Style

Wolff brings his signature blend of clarity, sardonic humor, and historical awareness; Eskow provides incisive, critical, and often witty analysis. Both speakers communicate in an accessible, conversational left-wing tone, urging education, activism, and systemic change over passive acceptance of technological hype.

By the end of the episode, listeners are left with a sobering but empowering message: AI’s future—whether it is a tool of corporate exploitation or becomes a democratically controlled public resource—depends on collective action, transparency, and a radical rethinking of technological ownership.