Tales of Cyberspace and Artificial Intelligence: Diverging Stakeholderships?

Eriksson, Johan; Giacomello, Giampiero

Tales of Cyberspace and Artificial Intelligence: Diverging Stakeholderships?

This article traces the evolution of the Internet from the 1990s to the 2020s and compares it with the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly following the public launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. It identifies both parallels and divergencies between these two overlapping technological domains, focusing on the growing integration of AI into online applications. The central argument is that, whereas users once played a decisive role in shaping the Internet’s trajectory and politics, the contemporary AI landscape is dominated by two principal stakeholders: governments and private companies. User groups, by contrast, have become largely marginalized in debates on AI policy and regulation. While users in cyberspace historically acted as co-creators, they are thus far confined to the role of consumers in relation to AI. This shift toward elite-driven governance raises important concerns regarding the emergence of authoritarian tendencies in the development and implementation of AI and digital technologies in general.

The special issue “CTRL + Power: The Politics of Digital Authoritarianism” of Global Policy, is published in open access with the financial support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. The issue is part of the initiative “CTRL + power: the (geo)politics of digital authoritarianism”, an academic collaboration between T.wai, LSE IDEAS and the University of Torino.

Published in:

Special Issue: CTRL + Power: The Politics of Digital Authoritarianism

29 July 2026

From the same author

Mitigating Disinformation with Civic Constitutionalism: The Case Study of Taiwan

29 July 2026

Amid growing concerns over information integrity, disinformation has evolved into a broader and more complex phenomenon now recognized as Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference... Read More

Securing Democracy: Online Political Advertising Regulations and Practices in the EU and its Member States

29 July 2026

Starting with the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal and its link to Brexit and the 2016 US elections, the nexus among online political advertising, micro-targeting, and... Read More

Countering FIMI by Digital Authoritarianisms: Audience Architecture and Reverse Language Engineering

29 July 2026

Foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) campaigns on social media are currently both more accessible and more impactful than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s... Read More

Reforming Export Control Regimes: Addressing Emerging Technologies Through Responsible Innovation

29 July 2026

The proliferation of dual-use emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and additive manufacturing—poses a growing challenge for multilateral export control regimes. Designed... Read More

Does AI Affect the Democratic Conduct of War? Analyzing US and Israeli Military AI Deployment

29 July 2026

This study examines how the use of decision-support military Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems can affect the democratic conduct of warfare. AI can challenge the... Read More

Events & Training Programs