Tech Talk: Artificial Intelligence may require a ‘tech tax’

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Some believe a “tech tax” is necessary if the world is to avoid a dystopian future in which AI leads to a concentration of global wealth. (Photo courtesy of flickr.com.)

In ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ Hal, one of the earliest forms of artificial intelligence, is having none of it and bluntly tells his human programmer he simply cannot (will not) do what is being asked. While the Arthur C. Clark novel was fiction, it certainly is hitting close to home these days. And to take the premise a step further, what if those who control artificial intelligence became the wealthiest on the planet?

A “tech tax” is necessary if the world is to avoid a dystopian future in which AI leads to a concentration of global wealth in the hands of a few thousand people, influential economist Dr Jeffrey Sachs has warned, writes thegaurdian.com

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Speaking to the Guardian, Sachs backed calls for taxation aimed at the largest tech companies, arguing that new technologies were dramatically shifting the income distribution worldwide “from labour to intellectual property (IP) and other capital income.”

“So rather than cutting capital income taxation, as we’ve been doing in a race to the bottom, we ought to be finding ways to tax capital income and IP income,” Sachs added.

“Things like the proposed tech tax are actually a very good idea. The specific form of it is debatable, but the idea is that five companies are worth $3.5tn, basically because of network externalities and information monopolies, and therefore are absolutely right for efficient taxation.”

Sachs is in London to speak at an event organised by the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. There, he will argue that artificial intelligence can only achieve its potential if its use is determined not by the pressures of private competition, but by a desire to serve the public interest.

To read the complete story click here. 

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