Artificial intelligence: a neoliberal tool to better manage social inequalities?
Article / Journal
Author(s) / editor(s):
Paul Michael Garrett
Year: 2026
Language(s): English
Abstract:
The article examines how AI intersects with inequality in a neoliberal global context marked by austerity, rationing and scarcity. In the first section, it focuses on predictive analytics in child welfare, social protection and policing, arguing that AI‑assisted approaches to “social problems” risk reproducing and intensifying past discriminatory practices. In the second, it contends that AI development and deployment are likely to reinforce neo‑colonial dynamics or “digital colonialism” in the Global South. The article calls for more social work research on how to resist and mitigate these structurally embedded harms.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2025.2607705
Post created by: Virginia Signorini