General theory of data, artificial intelligence and governance

Abstract

AbstractBig Data (BD) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) play a fundamental role in today’s economy that traditional economic models fail to capture. This paper presents a theoretical conceptualisation of the data economy and derives implications for digital governance and data policies. It defines a hypothetical data-intensive economy where data are the main input of AI and in which the amount of knowledge generated is below the socially desired amount. Intervention could consist of favouring the creation of additional knowledge via data sharing. We show that the framework suggested describes many features of today’s data-intensive economy and provides a tool to assist academic, policy and governance discussions. Our conclusions support data sharing as a way of increasing knowledge production on societal challenges and dilemmas of data capitalism and transparency in AI.