In the Media
SALON: AI could widen the wealth gap, experts say
02. 21. 2025
Artificial intelligence could be the great equalizer or just another tool for the rich to get richer
Click here to read the story as originally published on Salon.com.
According to Taylor Jo Isenberg, executive director of the Economic Security Project, the way AI impacts economic inequality will largely depend on the decisions made in the next decade. “We’re at a critical juncture. The choices we make in the next decade will determine whether we deliver on a vision of broad-based prosperity or further entrench economic and political power into the hands of a few,” she explained.
If left unchecked, corporations driven by profit incentives may develop AI in ways that concentrate wealth and power at the top. However, Isenberg believes that if governments can deploy smart policies such as interoperability and nondiscrimination, they can foster innovation in the AI space while preventing monopolization. The government’s intervention could also help solve societal problems that might not have a big payday attached to them, such as health care and medicine.
“If we imbue government with the expertise to proactively regulate, build public infrastructure to ensure access and affordability, and double down on fair and healthy competition across the industry, I think we’ll be off to a pretty good start,” Isenberg said. “However, I think it’s going to take political muscle and true leadership to put us on that trajectory, given the tremendous interest in staying the current course of letting a few players dominate the industry.”