From attention economy to cognitive lock-ins

The economic logic of the attention economy is frequently used to critique and respond to the dangers of unfettered technological expansion, including nascent platforms and products powered by generative artificial intelligence. This commentary warns that while large parts of the internet have been financed through such business models, there is no guarantee that emerging generative artificial intelligence products will be commercialized in this way too. Instead, I argue, we must look beyond the attention economy to predict the future of monetization of an industry already mired in anti-competitive practices. Using popular large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT as a case, I discuss how some platforms are developing computational dependencies between technology and their users. I propose the term ‘cognitive lock-in’ to help us unpack the implications of such technological dependencies, and redirect the study of this nascent business model.