Living Under the Stare: Ethical Implications of AI Technologies in Surveillance Capitalism

A series of remarkable technological advancements have profoundly enhanced the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to track, predict, and manipulate individual behaviour through various applications and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. The constant surveillance facilitated by AI tools has led to the commodification of end-users and the commercialisation of behavioural data. This research evaluates the ethical implications of AI-based technologies in what is now widely acknowledged as "surveillance capitalism". It argues that the convergence of sophisticated AI technologies and data-driven business models has altered the nature of humans, from being autonomous "subjects" to entities under the illusion of agency being "objectified" for commercial gains. The study uses the deontological ethical framework to evaluate the tension between potential gains of AI technologies and possible drawbacks related to privacy, autonomy, accountability, and fairness. Furthermore, the paper attempts to contribute to the existing academic discourses on AI ethics and surveillance capitalism by analysing how individuals undergo the metamorphosis from autonomous subjects to commodified objects. The paper concludes by proposing ethical guidelines and policy suggestions that might be heedful to locate the autonomy of persons and human agency within the digital landscape.