The Erosion of Public Space in the Platform Society: From Data Colonialism to Generative AI

Year 2025, Issue: 15, 342 - 351, 30.04.2025

Luciano Paccagnella

https://doi.org/10.32739/etkilesim.2025.8.15.295

https://izlik.org/JA27GC39FH

Abstract

In the decades between the 20th and 21st centuries, the transition took place from the networked society based on the Internet as an open technology, to the current platform society whose services are provided almost exclusively by very few large private companies.
We are living today in the dawn of data colonialism, a phenomenon far more pervasive than the simple issue of Big Tech's appropriation of personal data. In fact, despite the widespread metaphor of data as "new oil", the data collected and transformed into wealth by platforms are not natural resources, but are instead actively constructed and pre-structured by the platforms themselves according to opaque and non-transparent logic.
In the context of this discussion, we also focus on generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), defining it and outlining its capabilities. The generative AI tools currently available are also privately owned and opaque in their operation, following instructions, rules and limits that are protected by industrial secrecy and which the community cannot know in detail.
Alongside unprecedented potential and opportunities that must be recognized, in the contemporary digital scenario there is therefore the risk of a progressive erosion of the public space for discussion and comparison, limited upstream by rules of the game decided on a table at which citizens and civil society cannot sit.

Keywords

digital platforms , artificial intelligence , public sphere , digital sovereignity

Platform Toplumunda Kamusal Alanın Erozyonu: Veri Sömürgeciliğinden Üretken Yapay Zekâya

https://izlik.org/JA27GC39FH

Abstract

20. ve 21. yüzyıllar arasındaki on yıllarda, açık bir teknoloji olarak İnternet'e dayalı ağ toplumundan, hizmetleri neredeyse yalnızca çok az sayıda büyük özel şirket tarafından sağlanan mevcut platform toplumuna geçiş gerçekleşti.
Bugün, Büyük Teknoloji'nin kişisel verileri gasp etmesinden çok daha yaygın bir olgu olan veri sömürgeciliğinin şafağında yaşıyoruz. Aslında, verinin "yeni petrol" olarak yaygın metaforuna rağmen, platformlar tarafından toplanan ve servete dönüştürülen veriler doğal kaynaklar değil, bunun yerine platformlar tarafından opak ve şeffaf olmayan bir mantığa göre aktif olarak inşa ediliyor ve önceden yapılandırılıyor.
Bu tartışma bağlamında, üretken Yapay Zeka'ya (YZ) da odaklanıyoruz, onu tanımlıyoruz ve yeteneklerini ana hatlarıyla belirtiyoruz. Şu anda mevcut olan üretken YZ araçları da özel mülkiyettir ve faaliyetlerinde opaktır, endüstriyel gizlilikle korunan ve toplumun ayrıntılı olarak bilemeyeceği talimatları, kuralları ve sınırları takip eder. Tanınması gereken benzeri görülmemiş bir potansiyel ve fırsatların yanı sıra, çağdaş dijital senaryoda, vatandaşların ve sivil toplumun oturamayacağı bir masada kararlaştırılan oyunun kuralları tarafından sınırlanan tartışma ve karşılaştırma için kamusal alanın giderek aşınması riski de bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

digital platforms , artificial intelligence , public sphere , digital soreignity

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