Critical AI studies meets critical political economy

Critical political economy (CPE) presents an ideal tool for dissecting the hype surrounding AI by offering a framework for understanding how power and social inequalities have become inextricably woven into AI, its development and its application. This chapter explores how AI as technical approaches, industrial infrastructures and social practices is determined by power. Using a CPE approach enables the analysis of how both economic power and symbolic power are at work in the field of AI. Economic power is seen in the concentration of AI industries and the tendency towards monopolisation. Symbolic power is the influence of dominant ideas about what type of AI society we need and desire and reveals the limitations of AI ethics initiatives. The conclusion is that we must recognise the importance of social power if we want to achieve a radical democratisation of AI.