May Thorseth (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, philosophy) will give a lecture “Why AI and Surveillance Capitalism Is a Threat to Democracy?” on Tuesday, 27 May 2025, at 16:15–17:45 in Narva mnt 18-1025.
The talk explores how surveillance capitalism and AI algorithms restrict individual autonomy by turning human behaviour into data that is predicted, directed, and monetised.
Surveillance capitalism is enabled by the power of Big Tech companies to create behavioural surplus. According to Shoshana Zuboff, this threatens autonomous choices, which are essential to democracy. Individual users of Big Tech’s services are no longer the customers, we are not even the product, but instead the object from which raw materials are extracted, based on information on preferences and prediction of future behaviour. This is a new species of economic power, as it implies instrumentation and instrumentalisation of behaviour for the purpose of modification, prediction, monetisation and control. Human experience is translated into behavioural data, trading in human futures by making predictions of what we will do, not only now, but later. This influence on individual choices curtails the autonomous choices of individuals.
In this talk, I will examine why surveillance capitalism, enabled by AI algorithms, deprives individuals of autonomous choices, which is basic to a well-functioning democracy. An important question is how AI technologies could contribute to better informed publics and democratic governance in the future?
The colloquium is part of the Susimetsa Philosophicum residency programme, through which the participants present the results of their research projects. It is organised by the Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Ethics at the University of Tartu, together with the Estonian Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (EXAI).
The colloquium is supported by the Ministry of Education and Research through the Centres of Excellence grant TK213 (Estonian Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (EXAI)) and the non-profit organisation Prof. Dr. Theda Rehbock’s Susimetsa Philosophicum.