Mills and AI Power

This image, generated by ChatGPT, shows C. Wright Mills in the present day sitting in a classical thinking position with a laptop open with the screen glowing with the ChatGPT entry box. His hand is on the touch screen, but his other hand is on his mouth with his face turned away from the screen. He airs on the side of caution, not letting himself fully engage in using AI. He doesn't look scared or intimidated, rather, he seems to be weighing the costs and benefits of this new tool. He is sat in what looks like a tech-server room that opens up to a glass wall revealing three silhouette figures. We can tell by their clothing that these figures are some sort of military officer, "businessperson", and "government-like" authority (as ChatGPT describes representing the three central power elite circles) 

Despite disregarding sociology as a discipline, C. Wright Mills, born in Waco Texas in 1916, is seen as one of the founders of American Sociology, especially in terms of the sociological imagination. In his work, The Power Elite, Mills says the power elite is composed of men who "are in command of the major hierarchies and organizations of modern society" (Mills 20). They control and establish economic order, political order, and military order in an interlocked fashion. Rather than a democratic distribution of power, the United States is governed by a small sector of concentrated elite power. Mills says that the Power Elites don't have any moral or psychological superiority over the rest of society, as the power elite is reinforced by interconnected power, not just simply individuals who "have a lot".  

If C. Wright Mills were to write his work in 2025, we could imagine he would have a lot to say about AI top-down control within large institutions and the rest of society. Through his three major keys in analyzing the power elite, he would ask questions about how AI was/is developed, how they are funded, and what major corporations use AI, and he would definitely be making a point to warn the general public to think consciously about the algorithmic control of artificial intelligence. He would highlight that artificial intelligence is a profitable industry, therefore it cannot be a neutral tool. Algorithms can be censored, and controlled to sensitize what information is available to the general public. For AI to function, excessive funding is necessary, which is coming from large corporations from all parts of the economic, military, and governmental domain controlled by the power elite (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, etc...). Mills would call attention to this and urge individuals to think critically and cautiously before blindly trusting AI. I believe that if Mills were to re-write his work today, he may even create a new sphere for AI control within algorithmic and informational order in society. AI adds another layer to the revolving door effect of economic, political, and military control in creating a shared understanding of information in the hands of a few elites. 

Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.