The Power of Algorithmic Capitalism

ABSTRACT The rise of algorithmic capitalism is marked by the extraction of data enabled by the combination of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). This coupling constitutes a powerful force, altering the rules, regulations, and discourses that comprise global governance. In our fraught times, numerical representations—algorithms and AI—can serve as proxies for the power of capitalism. Efforts to check this structure may be bracketed under four rubrics: initiatives to effect greater transparency, regulation, audits by third-party inspectors, and accountability. Notwithstanding modest gains in some of these domains, algorithms are extending their scope and capacities more rapidly than humans have established means for controlling them. This article traces these developments and their implications for achieving an ethical future by projecting scenarios. They lead to the quandary of what the creation of moral machines may mean for world order.