Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
What if AI’s biggest innovation is not intelligence at all?
What if its real achievement is finding a way to take other people’s work, package it, and charge them to access it?
In this video, I argue that the economic model behind AI deserves much closer scrutiny than it currently receives.
AI systems are trained on enormous quantities of human-created content: books, articles, websites, blogs, videos, images, music and much more. Without that content, AI would have nothing to learn from and nothing useful to say.
Yet the creators whose work makes these systems possible are rarely paid. In many cases, they are not even asked for permission. Their knowledge, creativity and labour become the raw material for products that are then sold back to the public.
That raises fundamental questions about copyright, ownership, economic justice and the concentration of wealth.
Drawing on ideas from political economy, I argue that what many AI companies are doing is best understood as rent extraction. They are creating systems that allow them to charge for access to information that they did not originally create. The result could be a new form of digital landlordism, in which a handful of technology companies gain the power to charge rent for access to knowledge itself.
I also explain why this issue matters to me personally. Over more than twenty years, I have written tens of thousands of blog posts, produced more than a thousand videos and written books whose contents now appear to have been absorbed into AI systems. Like countless other creators, I have never been paid for that contribution, even though it helps make these systems valuable.
The debate does not stop with copyright. It extends to democracy, regulation, taxation and the future distribution of economic power. Who should benefit from AI? The creators whose work made it possible? The public? Or the shareholders of a small number of giant technology companies?
I also examine the wider political implications of AI, including the very different perspectives offered by Tony Blair and Pope Leo XIV. One sees AI as a central pillar of our economic future. The other warns of the dangers that arise when powerful technologies are allowed to operate without sufficient democratic accountability.
This is not simply a debate about technology. It is a debate about economics, democracy, ownership and power. It is about who gains, who loses, and who will control one of the most important technologies of our age.
If AI is going to shape our future, then we need to decide whose future it will be. That is the question at the heart of this video.
Take a look at the poll below: youtube.com/post/Ugkx3RVQi1Z__wRVOhoNrgU79tEHRSUuyQMm
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: taxresearch.org.uk
DEBATE AMMUNITION
The debate ammunition for this video is available on my blog today, link as above.
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp
HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: ko-fi.com/taxresearch
ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.
This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.
RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social
OR
ON MY BLOG: taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS
Subscribe and get notified of new videos released.
INTRODUCTION: youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060
PLAYLISTS:
Tax
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY
MMT
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX
Money
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m
Climate Change
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ
USA
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H
Labour
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw
The Trump Administration
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx
#richardmurphy #richardjmurphy #economy #economics #accountancy #accounting #tax #uktax #ukeconomy #greennewdeal #uk #money #economy #politics #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #LargeLanguageModels #ChatGPT #PoliticalEconomy #Economics #Copyright #CreativeCommons #DigitalEconomy #RentExtraction #BigTech #Technology #AIRegulation #AIEthics #DataRights #IntellectualProperty #WealthInequality #TaxJustice #Democracy #CorporatePower #TonyBlair #PopeLeoXIV #DigitalRights #PublicPolicy #PoliticsOfCare
What if AI’s biggest innovation is not intelligence at all?
What if its real achievement is finding a way to take other people’s work, package it, and charge them to access it?
In this video, I argue that the economic model behind AI deserves much closer scrutiny than it currently receives.
AI systems are trained on enormous quantities of human-created content: books, articles, websites, blogs, videos, images, music and much more. Without that content, AI would have nothing to learn from and nothing useful to say.
Yet the creators whose work makes these systems possible are rarely paid. In many cases, they are not even asked for permission. Their knowledge, creativity and labour become the raw material for products that are then sold back to the public.
That raises fundamental questions about copyright, ownership, economic justice and the concentration of wealth.
Drawing on ideas from political economy, I argue that what many AI companies are doing is best understood as rent extraction. They are creating systems that allow them to charge for access to information that they did not originally create. The result could be a new form of digital landlordism, in which a handful of technology companies gain the power to charge rent for access to knowledge itself.
I also explain why this issue matters to me personally. Over more than twenty years, I have written tens of thousands of blog posts, produced more than a thousand videos and written books whose contents now appear to have been absorbed into AI systems. Like countless other creators, I have never been paid for that contribution, even though it helps make these systems valuable.
The debate does not stop with copyright. It extends to democracy, regulation, taxation and the future distribution of economic power. Who should benefit from AI? The creators whose work made it possible? The public? Or the shareholders of a small number of giant technology companies?
I also examine the wider political implications of AI, including the very different perspectives offered by Tony Blair and Pope Leo XIV. One sees AI as a central pillar of our economic future. The other warns of the dangers that arise when powerful technologies are allowed to operate without sufficient democratic accountability.
This is not simply a debate about technology. It is a debate about economics, democracy, ownership and power. It is about who gains, who loses, and who will control one of the most important technologies of our age.
If AI is going to shape our future, then we need to decide whose future it will be. That is the question at the heart of this video.
Take a look at the poll below: youtube.com/post/Ugkx3RVQi1Z__wRVOhoNrgU79tEHRSUuyQMm
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: taxresearch.org.uk
DEBATE AMMUNITION
The debate ammunition for this video is available on my blog today, link as above.
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp
HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: ko-fi.com/taxresearch
ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.
This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.
RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social
OR
ON MY BLOG: taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS
Subscribe and get notified of new videos released.
INTRODUCTION: youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060
PLAYLISTS:
Tax
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY
MMT
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX
Money
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m
Climate Change
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ
USA
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H
Labour
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw
The Trump Administration
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx
#richardmurphy #richardjmurphy #economy #economics #accountancy #accounting #tax #uktax #ukeconomy #greennewdeal #uk #money #economy #politics #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #LargeLanguageModels #ChatGPT #PoliticalEconomy #Economics #Copyright #CreativeCommons #DigitalEconomy #RentExtraction #BigTech #Technology #AIRegulation #AIEthics #DataRights #IntellectualProperty #WealthInequality #TaxJustice #Democracy #CorporatePower #TonyBlair #PopeLeoXIV #DigitalRights #PublicPolicy #PoliticsOfCare
