Everyone should be familiar with Marx’s essential criticisms of capitalism.
In summary, while constant capital (machines, workhouses, and such) is a necessary factor for production, it produces no profit. Profit only comes from variable capital (labor). With automation, less labor and hence less value goes into each good. Increased productivity means that more use values, but those commodities are cheaper in real value*.
It’s not true that more useful goods means less labor is necessary. In the commodity economy where valorization in the highest aim, there can never be enough work. While socialized production would negate this horrible fact, capitalism always wants more labor to exploit.
Yet, the market compels continual automation to give individual capitalists an edge. This process leads to less and less value going into goods and more and more constant capital compared to variable capital. Even if the gross mass of profit grows (which is what the capitalist cares about), the relative profit from production perpetually decreases. And the problem of too much stuff calls for destruction: planned obsolescence, destruction of goods while people have needs unmet, and, of course, wars.
*with inflation, l monetary wealth increases quantitatively without real wealth increasing
"Pfft more like tendency of the rate of profit to BALL. Check mate Marxists, this AI boom has my portfolio SOARING."
-Tech guy who forgot entirely the dot com bubble and subsequent crash.
We are so cooked but at least we might see some more FinTech dipshits yeet themselves out of windows when this whole thing collapses on itself like a dying star.
If only capitalism could abolish itself
Thankfully, another big crises is inevitable and capital is so interconnected that one revolution might mean many more. Maybe China would be forced to expropriate the bourgeoisie once and for all.