Surveillance capitalism replaces human relationships with machine processes to achieve certainty over trust.

Evidence

Under surveillance capitalism, the “means of production” serves the “means of behavioral modification.” Machine processes replace human relationships so that certainty can replace trust. This new assembly relies upon a vast digital apparatus, world-historic concentrations of advanced computational knowledge and skill, and immense wealth. The arc of behavioral modification at scale integrates the many operations that we have examined: ubiquitous extraction and rendition, actuation (tuning, herding, conditioning), behavioral surplus supply chains, machine-intelligence–based manufacturing processes, fabrication of prediction products, dynamic behavioral futures markets, and “targeting,” which leads to fresh rounds of tuning, herding, conditioning, and the coercions of the uncontract, thus renewing the cycle. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1115

Categorization

• DEFINE: Crystallizes the full production-chain arc of surveillance capitalism in one synthesis, distinguishing its machinery (production) from its purpose (behavioral modification).
• XREF: Echoes Marx’s means of production frame now standing in service of behavioral modification, connecting to the book’s foundational economic argument. — connects to: Surveillance erodes interpersonal trust by removing the right to act without it — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 503; Surveillance capitalism treats social trust as unnecessary friction to be eliminated — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1058; Surveillance capitalism operates through Big Other to engineer behavior rather than souls — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1196 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Surveillance capitalism treats social trust as unnecessary friction to be eliminated #corroborates (0.95) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1058
• Surveillance capitalism recasts social connectedness as a medium for guaranteed outcomes. #corroborates (0.90) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1310
• Surveillance capitalism operates through Big Other to engineer behavior rather than souls #qualifies (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1196