AI and data capitalism

Through 2023-25, I’ve held a research fellowship at the University of Auckland, and working with Prof Nick Lewis within the Politics, Economies and Place research group. Work has focused on global management consultancies’ role in ‘imagineering’ a post-neoliberal capitalism:

ctrl + alt + elite: The Big Four, AI, and the depoliticisation of governance [In preparation]
Despite significant debates highlighting the unresolved social, political, economic, and ethical risks associated with AI technologies, these systems are seeing rapid uptake. Global Management Consultancies (GMCs), particularly the Big Four firms, are key actors in this trend. Having historically expanded their scope beyond traditional auditing to become influential advisors on future trends and technologies, often focusing on forecasting and speculation, these firms are increasingly adopting AI. Leveraging their position as intermediaries and technical experts, the Big Four view AI not merely as a tool to support internal practices but as a technology capable of addressing broader economic and social concerns. They engage in significant "futuring work", actively seeking to shape the future of capitalism and coordinate contemporary economic pathways by rolling out new "ways of thinking" and "technologies of government" like models, metrics, and instruments.

In this paper we argue that the Big Four firms' increasing employment and promotion of AI technology serves as a powerful extension of their extrastate economic formation. Their application of AI, deeply intertwined with the logic of data capitalism, does not introduce radical new thought or practice, but rather reinforces established conservative positions and organisational logics. Framed by narratives of progress and efficiency characteristic of "AI futurism", their use of AI leverages their influence to amplify global neoliberal governance infrastructures. This amplification occurs by presenting complex societal issues as technical problems solvable through data and algorithms, contributing significantly to the depoliticisation of governance and state activity, and reinforcing a status quo built upon the inherent economic, environmental, and social exploitation associated with AI capitalism. We show how the Big Four's engagement with AI, rather than genuinely contributing to broadly beneficial sustainable solutions, reflects a form of "weak imagineering" that primarily aids global corporates and elites, further entrenching existing power relations and hindering the transformative change needed to address pressing planetary issues.