Author: Kai B.
What if you ran your workplace? Not you, alone, but you and your coworkers. What if you got a vote on matters like expansion plans, company policies, and raises? What if we ran enterprises democratically? What if we democratized the economy?
In June 2025, Business Insider reported on an internal Microsoft memo directing some managers to evaluate their employees based on how much they use generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Microsoft’s Copilot AI variants.¹ This was part of an effort to test whether one of the largest companies in the world should add an AI usage metric to its standard employee review process. Thousands of workers at a software megagiant are now effectively required to use generative AI in their daily work, regardless of whether it is actually useful to their work. “AI is now a fundamental part of how we work,” division president Julia Liuson wrote in the memo email. “Just like collaboration, data-driven thinking, and effective communication, using AI is no longer optional — it’s core to every role and level.” The em dash and unnecessarily dramatic juxtaposition are hallmarks of Large Language Model AIs (LLMs), suggesting that Liuson herself may have used Copilot to write the email in a stunning act of ironic laziness.
Let’s assume Liuson did, in fact, use an LLM to write her email memo. She issued a new policy that fundamentally altered the way thousands of workers do their work and couldn’t even be bothered to write the whole thing herself. In pretty much every capitalist form of economic structure, from free-market capitalism to European social democracy, this is how most decisions are made in a business: by the bosses, who can choose how much input they want from the workers. Fundamental to the Marxist view of capitalism is the ever-present threat of starvation that accompanies unemployment. Liuson wrote to the managers that AI “should be part of your holistic reflections on an individual’s performance and impact.” Citing two anonymous internal sources, the article says that “these changes are meant to address what Microsoft sees as lagging internal adoption of its Copilot AI services.” The article presumes that the internal adoption of Copilot is a justified and reasonable goal, one worthy of threatening people’s jobs to achieve. No mention is made of how the workers now operating under this mandate feel about this change. It is unknown if even a single worker was consulted before Liuson made her decision. This pattern is being repeated at countless companies. It might be happening at your workplace, too.² Did anyone ask you? Who made this decision? Were they ever in a position similar to yours? If they lost their job today, how long could they survive? How long could you survive if you lost your job today?
In my vision of socialism in our time, true democracy is not limited to the political sphere. I believe the economy must be run democratically, not dominated by the dictatorial authority of capitalists nor under the control of the state. In the main, the workers should govern their work. Let’s assume that commodity production still reigns supreme (a question for another day). Now, you get to discuss, debate, and vote with your coworkers on whether you want to require the use of AI. You could even vote to ban AI use, if you wanted. You could democratically decide on expansion plans, HR policies, compensation, benefits, and vote to fire that creepy, abusive coworker, knowing that he won’t starve on the street or lose access to medical care.
Hate your boss? What if you could elect and recall managers? A democratic economy would fundamentally shift the balance of power in our lives. No longer would the leaders who most affect our daily lives—the managers, the executives—be so removed from the workers they control. No longer would executives make hundreds of times the wage of their workers. In 2024, the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio of the 500 leading U.S. companies was 285 to 1.³ I doubt the workers of any democratic enterprise would vote to pay their leadership so much more than themselves.
Once, the authority of feudal lords seemed unquestionable by the peasants, who made up the overwhelming majority of the kingdom. It must have seemed like there would never be a new system. The lord would always control the land and extract their share of the harvest, every season. But they were wrong. Feudalism ended. Capitalism, too, can end. We can run the economy not for the few, but for the many. Think about what you would like to hold a vote on at your job. What would you like to change?
¹ https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-internal-memo-using-ai-no-longer-optional-github-copilot-2025-6
² https://www.fastcompany.com/91514928/what-to-do-if-your-employer-is-requiring-you-to-use-ai
³ https://aflcio.org/paywatch/company-pay-ratios
This work was written as a part of the Communications Committee’s 2026 Q2 themed writing initiative “Socialism In Our Time!”
