Profit maximization: negative cases of digitalization

Digitalization processes have a significant impact on the functioning of the modern economy. The quality of this influence can be either positive, increasing the efficiency of economic activity at the micro- and macro-­levels, or negative, leading to the new threats and additional costs. The paper examines a third trend, in which digitalization tools increase the efficiency of individual companies, shifting the negative effects to society. The paper presents a set of practical cases illustrating the effects of digitalization tools’ application. The use of artificial intelligence for shaping digital profile of users is considered. The gain of the formed digital profile for shifting part of the digital platforms’ costs onto their users and appropriating part of the consumers’ surplus by digital platforms is analyzed. The main approaches to practical application of price differentiation based on economic digitalization tools are defined. The role of non-medical neurotechnological devices in shaping users’ neuroprofiles is examined, and the trends of using neurodata to maximize company profits are analyzed. The current response of the global community aimed at protecting neurorights is characterized. The study findings highlight the need to pre-emptively introduce a ban on the use of neural data for predicting and programming user behavior into the Russian legislation. As well, a ban on the use of digitalization tools for unjustifiably shifting part of the costs of digital platforms onto their users and appropriating consumer surplus.

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