The Risks of Industry Influence in Tech Research

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential for industry influence to bias scientific research on emerging technologies, emphasizing the need for stronger safeguards to ensure objective understanding and policy-making.

Contribution

It highlights the unique challenges posed by industry-funded technology research and proposes the development of new safeguards to mitigate undue influence.

Findings

Industry funding can bias scientific outcomes.

Existing safeguards may be insufficient against industry influence.

Enhanced measures are needed to protect scientific integrity.

Abstract

Emerging information technologies like social media, search engines, and AI can have a broad impact on public health, political institutions, social dynamics, and the natural world. It is critical to develop a scientific understanding of these impacts to inform evidence-based technology policy that minimizes harm and maximizes benefits. Unlike most other global-scale scientific challenges, however, the data necessary for scientific progress are generated and controlled by the same industry that might be subject to evidence-based regulation. Moreover, technology companies historically have been, and continue to be, a major source of funding for this field. These asymmetries in information and funding raise significant concerns about the potential for undue industry influence on the scientific record. In this Perspective, we explore how technology companies can influence our scientific understanding of their products. We argue that science faces unique challenges in the context of technology research that will require strengthening existing safeguards and constructing wholly new ones.