Toward the Fourth Form of Capital: AI, Globalization, and the Post-Neoliberal Future

Article 21:

Toward the Fourth Form of Capital: AI, Globalization, and the Post-Neoliberal Future
Author: Mohammad Rahim Jamshidi
📍 Shiraz, Iran
📅 May 2025
📩 mriamshidi@gmail.com

 
1. Introduction
Capitalism today stands at a critical juncture. As the neoliberal order falters in the face of ecological crises, social polarization, and technological transformation, a new logic of capital is emerging—one not based solely on physical labor or financial speculation, but on data, time, attention, and intelligence.
This paper proposes a theoretical and practical framework for understanding this emergent stage of capitalism—what we call the Fourth Form of Capital—and explores how artificial intelligence (AI), when integrated responsibly into decentralized economic infrastructures, can support more resilient, just, and intelligent societies.

 
2. Historical Background: The Three Classical Forms of Capital
In a prior theoretical contribution (Jamshidi, 2025), contemporary capitalism was framed as operating through three interdependent forms of capital:

1.      Capital in Commodity Form: Goods and services produced and sold in markets.

2.      Capital in Productive Form: Investment in the inputs required for production (labor, tools, factories).

3.      Capital in Financial Form: Flows of money and financial instruments across credit and speculative markets.

These forms are cyclical and mutually reinforcing. Globalization has extended these cycles across borders, integrating global supply chains and financial systems.

 
3. The Crisis of Capital and the Limits of Neoliberalism
The neoliberal model emphasized deregulation, privatization, and the financialization of everyday life. While it accelerated technological innovation and global connectivity, it also:

·         Deepened inequality

·         Undermined public trust

·         Encouraged ecological overshoot

·         Weakened institutions

Events such as the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the escalating climate emergency have exposed the fragility and obsolescence of the current system.

 
4. The Fourth Form of Capital: Intelligence, Time, and Collective Attention
We propose the emergence of a Fourth Form of Capital: Intelligent Capital. This form is not rooted in material production or speculative finance, but in:

·         Data as a raw material

·         Algorithms as instruments of value extraction and prediction

·         Social trust and collective attention as measurable economic assets

·         Time as a finite, contested, and monetizable resource

This form manifests through platforms that organize perception, behavior, and cognition—such as search engines, social media, and AI-assisted recommendation systems.

 
5. AI and the Infrastructure of Intelligent Capital
AI plays a dual role in this new capital form:

·         Instrumental Role: Optimizing logistics, production, governance, and financial operations

·         Constitutive Role: Creating new value through pattern recognition, behavior prediction, and continuous adaptation

However, without robust ethical frameworks, AI can exacerbate surveillance, monopolization, and inequality. Its design must prioritize fairness, transparency, and inclusion.

 
6. Case Study: The Gold-Backed Currency Model
In a recent model (Jamshidi, 2025), a decentralized, gold-backed economic ecosystem was proposed. It uses AI for:

·         Verifying transactions

·         Detecting fraud

·         Forecasting flows

·         Supporting inclusive governance

The use of a universal, stable anchor (1g gold unit) bridges tangible and intangible value, offering a testbed for the hybridization of traditional and intelligent capital.

 
7. AI and Bio-Systems: The Experimental Domain of the Fourth Capital Form
The Fourth Form of Capital may find its most transformative application in self-regulating, adaptive bio-systems where value is derived not from extraction, but from intelligence, resilience, and dynamic integration.

Domains of Application:
·         AI-guided Agro-Ecology: Precision farming and regenerative agriculture

·         Eco-Urbanism: Cities designed to adapt to environmental signals

·         Neuro-Bio Interfaces: Integration of biological and artificial cognition

·         Epidemiological Forecasting: AI-driven systems for health, resilience, and prediction

Enabling Technologies:
·         Large-scale data processing (genomics, proteomics, environmental data)

·         Machine learning for pattern recognition and system adaptation

·         Human-AI collaborative design for context-sensitive infrastructure

Here, feedback loops, adaptive learning, and bio-integration become the basis for value—rather than mere production throughput.

 
8. Conclusion: Beyond Ideology, Toward Intelligent Pluralism
Neither classical socialism nor neoliberal capitalism sufficiently addresses the complex realities of our intelligent, networked, and planetary economy. What is needed is an ethically grounded, pluralistic, and locally adaptable economic architecture.

Intelligent Capital is not domination by machines—it is the co-creation of systems that learn, adapt, and prioritize collective well-being.

The key question is not whether capitalism will change—but how consciously, ethically, and inclusively we guide its evolution.

 
References
·         Jamshidi, M. R. (2025). “On the Three Forms of Capital.” Philosophie.ch, January 26

·         Jamshidi, M. R. (2025). “A Gold-Backed Currency for a Decentralized Future.” Philosophie.ch, April 6

·         Jamshidi, M. R. (2025). “Artificial Intelligence and the Architecture of Value.” Philosophie.ch, April 23

·         Jamshidi, M. R. (2025). “AI, Bio-Systems, and the Next Economy.” Philosophie.ch, April 25

 
Prepared by:
Mohammad Rahim Jamshidi
📍 Shiraz, Iran
📩 mriamshidi@gmail.com
🗓️ May 21, 2025