Big Tech was once the envy of the world, transforming the way we live, work and think. But critics claim attempts to monitor Big Tech have failed and point to the serious threat that regulators don't understand what they are regulating. A recent high-profile member of the US Congress argued lawmakers don't even understand what AI is, let alone how to oversee it. As evidence of the failure, 41 US States are suing Meta for deliberately designing features to addict children, while Big Tech's vast financial clout, funding university research and government salaries vitiates oversight.
Do Western governments need to follow the Chinese example and build their own expertise and tech platforms to effectively regulate Big Tech? Should we seek to regain control by breaking up the Big tech giants? Or is the value of innovation sufficient to overcome fears of the growing political and cultural power of the technology behemoths?
Philosopher Susan Schneider, Economist journalist and editor Kenneth Cukier, AI researcher Joscha Bach, and data ethicist Shannon Vallor, ask if big tech can be controlled.