Four Enclosures Since the Industrial Revolution

Artificial intelligence is portrayed as if it is a self-contained, independent agent with its own will, and it is depicted as a mysterious magical force. Needless to say, these descriptions strip away the development context, deliberately downplay the political-economic struggles behind it, not to mention its specific role in capitalist society.

Acemoglu on Technology, Power, and Progress

Contemporary AI, relying on big data and machine learning, appropriates personal data through intelligent surveillance. Computers themselves do not possess any “intelligence”; they simply make use of collective wisdom. This raises fundamental questions about “data ownership”…Mainstream economists have always extolled the virtues of private property rights, so why are they so silent on the issue of data ownership?