Collective action on artificial intelligence: A primer and review

Robert de Neufville and Seth D. Baum

Technology in Society, 2021, vol. 66, issue C

Abstract: Progress on artificial intelligence (AI) requires collective action: the actions of two or more individuals or agents that in some way combine to achieve a result. Collective action is needed to increase the capabilities of AI systems and to make their impacts safer and more beneficial for the world. In recent years, a sizable but disparate literature has taken interest in AI collective action, though this literature is generally poorly grounded in the broader social science study of collective action. This paper presents a primer on fundamental concepts of collective action as they pertain to AI and a review of the AI collective action literature. The paper emphasizes (a) different types of collective action situations, such as when acting in the collective interest is or is not in individuals’ self-interest, (b) AI race scenarios, including near-term corporate and military competition and long-term races to develop advanced AI, and (c) solutions to collective action problems, including government regulations, private markets, and community self-organizing. The paper serves to bring an interdisciplinary readership up to speed on the important topic of AI collective action.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Catastrophic risk; Collective action; Governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:teinso:v:66:y:2021:i:c:s0160791x2100124x

DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101649

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