Attention is all they need: cognitive science and the (techno)political economy of attention in humans and machines
Ai & Society 2026 Pablo González Torre, Marta Pérez-verdugo, Xabier E. Barandiaran
This paper critically analyses the “attention economy” within the framework of cognitive science and techno-political economics, as applied to both human and machine interactions. We explore how current business models, particularly in digital platform capitalism, harness user engagement by strategically shaping attentional patterns. These platforms utilize advanced AI and massive data...