Issue Digital dysfunction and social risk in the AI transformation

Summary

As AI transformation spreads to every industry and domain, AI is expected to become core social infrastructure that raises productivity, efficiency and decision speed. Yet it can also create new social risks such as data dependence, information bias and reinforced monopoly, because hyper-connectivity, automation and platform concentration carry risk in themselves. The survey calls this digital dysfunction and argues that it weakens governance, markets and social trust rather than being a purely technical problem. US big-tech firms and leading AI model and chip companies dominate models, data and AI infrastructure, and this platform capitalism can intensify unfair competition and widen gaps between countries, classes and firms. Algorithmic bias, disinformation and abuse of surveillance are unsettling ethical norms, and countries are responding with data sovereignty, AI ethics standards and fair-competition regulation.