Unequal distribution of harms and benefits
AI-driven industries seem likely to tend towards monopoly and could result in huge economic gains for a few actors: there seems to be a feedback loop whereby actors with access to more AI-relevant resources (e.g., data, computing power, talent) are able to build more effective digital products and services, claim a greater market share, and therefore be well-positioned to amass more of the relevant resources [14, 39, 45]. Similarly, wealthier countries able to invest more in AI development are likely to reap economic benefits more quickly than developing economies, potentially widening the gap between them.
ENTITY
1 - Human
INTENT
1 - Intentional
TIMING
3 - Other
Risk ID
mit896
Domain lineage
6. Socioeconomic and Environmental
6.1 > Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits
Mitigation strategy
1. Establish and vigorously enforce modern antitrust and competition laws, with a specific focus on scrutinizing vertical integration and acquisitions by dominant firms in the AI sector. This includes mandating non-discriminatory access requirements for foundational AI models and critical infrastructure to prevent the exploitation of market power (e.g., price-gouging or quality reduction) and ensure a level regulatory playing field. 2. Implement incentive structures and economic policies designed to systematically promote the broad distribution of AI-derived benefits over profit maximization. This can involve exploring mechanisms such as public AI initiatives, progressive redistribution of AI-generated wealth, or conditional grants that require reinvestment in digital infrastructure and skills development within underserved communities and developing economies to counter the widening global gap. 3. Prioritize and fund the safe decentralization of AI capabilities through the development of competitive, responsibly-governed open-source AI models and collective, unique deep datasets. Concurrently, institute a regulatory framework that leverages compute providers as key intermediaries for oversight, verifying compliance and ensuring secure infrastructure to both foster innovation and prevent the proliferation of high-risk systems.