The loss of public goods to big tech

For decades, the titans of technology have talked about human-centered artificial intelligence and its capacity to inform and improve the future of humanity. If there was ever a moment where the overstated promises of such technologies could be put to the test, it is now.

This article by Safiya U. Noble examines the ways in which Big Tech companies profit from the erosion of democracy, privacy, and public goods in the USA, and globally. Noble weaves together the urgent threads of our time – COVID-19, racial injustice, widespread disinformation, inequality, and the hegemony of Silicon Valley – and articulates these relationships with clarity and urgency.