Leading in a World Where AI Wields Power of Its Own

Our work and research are grounded in an exploration of the ways technology alters power structures and changes the nature of participation in society. We have founded and led companies, organizations, and movements that use technology to expand participation (Giving Tuesday and Purpose among them), collectively engaging hundreds of millions of people. When we last wrote for HBR, almost 10 years ago (“ Understanding ‘New Power,’ ” December 2014), we described an important change in the way power could be exercised. The “old power” world, in which power was hoarded and spent like a currency, was being challenged by the rise of a “new power” world, in which power flowed more like a current, surging through connected crowds. New technology platforms were allowing people to exercise their agency and their voice in ways previously out of reach. These opportunities to participate were both a delight and a distraction. But either way, they were irresistible—and before anyone noticed it, we had also ceded enormous power to the very platforms that promised to liberate us.