The economic questions behind AI markets.

PERSPECTIVE

Define the market question

An assessment needs to specify the service, users and competitive constraint being examined. Infrastructure, models and downstream applications can raise different economic questions; treating them as a single market obscures those differences.

Look at access and switching

Access to inputs, interoperability and the ability to switch providers are useful dimensions to investigate. Their importance should be established from evidence about the particular market rather than assumed from the technology label.

Match the response to the evidence

A policy analysis should explain the suspected mechanism, the evidence supporting it and the trade-offs of the proposed response. The goal is to make the reasoning explicit enough to test and revise.