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| Orlando Gomes |
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| ''AI-tocracy dynamics'' |
| ( 2026, Vol. 46 No.2 ) |
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| AI-tocracy is the designation used to characterize a political regime that is autocratic and that resorts to AI-based methods of control and repression to guarantee its entrenchment in power. This study develops an original dynamic model of AI-tocracy, in which political control is pursued via investment in digital surveillance. The sketched model allows for different degrees of authoritarianism and for different levels of efficacy of surveillance. Numerical results indicate that, in the steady state, deeply autocratic regimes can coexist with a fast expansion of the AI frontier, as long as the efficacy of surveillance is high (thus creating prosperous AI-tocracies). If the government is incapable of efficaciously extracting data from socio-economic events and interactions, then deeper authoritarianism will be accompanied by the decline of AI technology and by a fall in output and welfare. |
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| Keywords: AI-tocracy, Big data, Artificial intelligence, Political control, Intertemporal optimization, Steady state equilibrium. |
JEL: O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development: General
H1 - Structure and Scope of Government: General |
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| Manuscript Received : Feb 18 2026 | | Manuscript Accepted : Jun 30 2026 |
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