Datalism and Data Monopolies in the Era of A.I.: A Research Agenda

TL;DR

This paper explores the rise of data monopolies driven by AI and algorithms, challenging traditional monopoly theories and proposing a research agenda to understand their economic and social impacts.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of Datalists, a new form of monopoly controlling data for AI-driven processes, expanding monopoly theory to include data-driven control mechanisms.

Findings

Data monopolies challenge traditional monopoly definitions

Datalists control data for AI without classifying humans as employees

The paper outlines a research agenda for understanding data monopolies' impact

Abstract

The increasing use of data in various parts of the economic and social systems is creating a new form of monopoly: data monopolies. We illustrate that the companies using these strategies, Datalists, are challenging the existing definitions used within Monopoly Capital Theory (MCT). Datalists are pursuing a different type of monopoly control than traditional multinational corporations. They are pursuing monopolistic control over data to feed their productive processes, increasingly controlled by algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These productive processes use information about humans and the creative outputs of humans as the inputs but do not classify those humans as employees, so they are not paid or credited for their labour. This paper provides an overview of this evolution and its impact on monopoly theory. It concludes with an outline for a research agenda for economics in this space.