Lesson 747 of 1596
AI and Power Asymmetry Between Companies and Users
AI products create new power asymmetries — users barely understand what AI does to/for them. Reducing the asymmetry is ethical work.
Creators · Ethics & Society · ~7 min read
The premise
AI products create power asymmetries that disadvantage users; transparency and education reduce the gap.
What AI does well here
- Build AI products with transparency about how AI is used
- Provide user controls (opt-out, customization, deletion)
- Educate users about AI involvement (not just bury in TOS)
- Engage critics constructively
What AI cannot do
- Eliminate asymmetries through marketing
- Substitute transparency theater for actual user power
- Make every user equally AI-literate
Key terms in this lesson
Practice this safely
Use a small project example from your own work. The useful move is to compare the AI's draft against your goal, sources, and constraints before you trust it.
- 1Ask AI to explain power asymmetry in plain language, then underline anything that sounds uncertain or too broad.
- 2Give it one detail from "AI and Power Asymmetry Between Companies and Users" and ask for two possible next steps plus one reason each step might be wrong.
- 3Check user understanding against a trusted source, teacher, adult, expert, or original document before you use it.
End-of-lesson quiz
Check what stuck
10 questions · Score saves to your progress.
Tutor
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