Power and Rank in an AI Age

The rise of AI is not just a technological revolution; it’s a societal one. As AI systems become more integrated into decision-making processes, from hiring to healthcare, they influence power and rank.

First of all, there is the rise of new ranks and powers. Technological rank relates to those who understand and control AI tools that can shape outcomes in various sectors, creating a new hierarchy based on technological literacy. There is a type of rank associated with data access.  In the AI era, access to large datasets is power and entities that control data can develop more advanced AI systems, leading to competitive advantages and increased authority. 

We might also imagine the rank associated with algorithms and code. Creators of AI systems hold tremendous power, and their biases and perspectives are embedded into AI code – which is – everywhere. This is particularly important to note when statistics show that young white males are the main group coding AI in the West.

With AI technologies playing a bigger role in decision-making, there’s a risk that some voices could be given more weight than others. For example, those who control AI tools might have more influence due to their technological rank and data access, potentially overshadowing the voices of communities disproportionately affected by these technologies. This works against Deep Democracy.

Making Inequalities Worse

We can imagine several shifts and changes in power structures. AI can make inequalities worse. The elderly, for example, are already struggling to keep up to date, which will become even more of an issue reinforcing the digital divide that has already been in place in the last twenty years with the mobile and social media revolutions. 

Also, the adage of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ is valid here. If AI is trained on biased data, it will reinforce that data when it generates outcomes. At the same time, indigenous and/or minority groups are noting the greater ease by which their stories, culture and creative work are being appropriated and corrupted using AI consumer creative content. 

The data centres that power AI are also drawing on water sources used by communities at a disadvantage, setting up competition for these increasingly scarce resources with unknown impacts on the local environment – including lakes and reservoirs where water is sourced. In addition to these issues of transparency and privacy, the current disparities in rank will only be reinforced by AI infiltration into every aspect of our society. 

AI is also taking out entire areas of work – especially roles – often undertaken by those in more marginal situations, such as manufacturing roles, customer service, and retail. Increasingly, even physical roles like cleaning will be sourced to AI-powered robots. Many individuals have two or three jobs, all of which are low-paid. Significant economic issues will occur from AI taking over these roles, particularly in struggling demographic groups.

There has been some speculation that AI can remove routine tasks so individuals can be more creative and strategic. But this will only really support those individuals in a strong power position, not those who need that work and/or who haven’t got access to educational possibilities that allow them a life of leisure and higher-order personal development.

On a macro level, the race to be the leader in AI technology is shifting the balance of power on a global scale. China and the US, in particular, compete similarly to the space race, trying to get the upper hand on a technology that Sam Altman has said will be super intelligent within a few thousand days. And on that note what do humans do when another intelligence outranks us in every single area?

AI is making education and information more accessible, supporting individuals who have struggled in the past to write, create and/or access tools that they can leverage out of low-rank positions.

AI provides the means to tackle complex issues (though churning through masses of data and scenario building, for example). Climate change, health, and environmental management have suddenly been given powerful tools to support the most impacted groups. 

And there are revolutionary changes in health that will mean that diseases and conditions that impact the poorest of society may finally have relief through increased capacity in research and automation of screening technologies for example.

We need to act now to spread awareness of AI’s impact, influence those with rank and power who leverage AI, and generate base-level literacy in our communities.

We must promote reflection and power issues in organisations that create and use AI and help them recognise bias in how AI is developed and rolled out to individuals. That includes generating diverse teams and engaging in stakeholder engagement with communities most impacted environmentally, culturally, and economically. We must also promote ethical protocols and policies, including mandatory consultation with impacted groups. A Deep Democracy approach would encourage the involvement of a diverse range of stakeholders in developing AI systems to ensure that marginalised voices are heard.

Perhaps more importantly, we need to actively engage in AI awareness raising, literacy and education so that those trying to navigate complex rank dynamics in their current lives are better armed to deal with AI rather than being further marginalised as this roles into different parts of our lives over the next few years.

First, it must be aimed at activists and social change workers. We need to do inner work on our relationship with technology, our ideas about other intelligences, and our rank and power issues concerning other groups. At the same time, it will be important to train people in how to engage with AI agents and entities in safe ways and also to give them frameworks to leverage their psychological and spiritual power to counter some of the technological power imbalances.

We may also like to take a position of collaboration – or at least co-option (!) with AI programmes. How can we use AI for activism to democratise knowledge,  streamline lobbying and make social action more possible on a mass scale? 

Mindell’s concepts remind us that with power comes responsibility. We probably don’t have a lot of hope around influencing the trajectory of AI development. The only hope I have as an activist is to support dialogue and education, as we have done with our recent Strange Intelligences Project, advocate strongly for ethical frameworks within organisations that engage proactively with AI, and ensure that people are aware of those organisations that do not. 

This is a big process that I strongly advocate social change agents start working on actively now. By positively leveraging our rank and privilege, we still have time to raise awareness of the potentially most impacted groups.

Unfortunately, I see many people at the grassroots level actively avoiding engagement due to fear, avoidance, or just plain ignorance of the issues involved. Given the rate of change around AI in our society right now, that will be a big problem going forward.