The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity

 
　　當網路平台全面滲透我們的生活，娛樂與便利的背後，其實是對消費者的無聲掠奪。科技巨頭透過演算法與平台機制，悄悄收集我們的注意力、數據與金錢，成為史上最強大的財富吸納機器。
 
　　《榨取時代》講述網際網路的轉變歷程——從1990與2000年代承諾的共同富裕與民主願景，到今日生成式AI、社群數據預測、反壟斷運動與加密貨幣熱潮交錯的新經濟現象。看似自由開放的網路世界，如今卻孕育出新的經濟階級，甚至助長威權力量的擴張。
 
　　在「平台資本主義」的架構下，每一次點擊、每一條推薦，都是被變現的機會。當科技平台掌握主導權，傳統產業被迫退居邊陲，貧富差距日益擴大，社會也可能因此走向分裂。我們是否仍有機會在經濟成長與平等之間找到新的平衡，使科技真正造福人類？
 
　　作者吳修銘（Tim Wu）現任哥倫比亞法學院科學與科技教授，曾任白宮國家經濟委員會科技與競爭政策特別助理，著有《巨頭的詛咒》（The Curse of Bigness）、《注意力商人》（The Attention Merchants）等重量級作品。在這本新作中，他提出清晰的願景及具體的行動指引，讓科技與經濟能夠真正回歸全民共享，實現公平共榮的社會。(文/博客來編譯)
 
好評推薦：
 
　　「這不是你的錯覺──網路生活確實正在掏空你的荷包……《榨取時代》（The Age of Extraction）犀利而發人深省，揭示『平台資本主義』如何誕生——在這個新經濟體系裡，使用者的每一次點擊，都能被變現。」——柯克斯書評（Kirkus Reviews）
 
　　「在以數據與人工智慧為核心的新經濟中，大型科技公司勢必成為最大贏家……吳修銘主張建立更公平的經濟體系，讓AI的成果能真正嘉惠所有人，並具體提出可行的原則、法律與政策方向。」——《國家為什麼會失敗》（Why Nations Fail）作者戴倫．艾塞默魯（Daron Acemoglu）

In an economic future centered on artificially-intelligent platforms, how can their power be balanced to ensure a broad prosperity for everyone?

Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever created, seizing immense amounts of money, data, and attention from all of us. An economy driven by digital platforms and AI influence offers the potential to enrich us, but also threatens to marginalize entire industries, widen the wealth gap, and foster a two-class nation.

Tim Wu—the preeminent scholar and former White House official who coined the phrase “net neutrality”—explores the rise of platform power and details the risks and rewards of working within such systems. The Age of Extraction tells the story of an Internet that promised widespread wealth and democracy in the 1990s and 2000s, only to create new economic classes and aid the spread of autocracy instead.  Wu frames our current moment with lessons from recent history—from generative AI and predictive social data to the antimonopoly and crypto movements—and envisions a future where technological advances serve the greatest possible good. Concise and hopeful, The Age of Extraction offers consequential proposals for how to achieve a better economic balance and prosperity for all.

Tim Wu is Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology at Columbia Law School. He worked in the White House as special assistant to the President for technology and competition policy. The author of The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants, he lives in New York City.