AI Reports · Oxford Internet Institute · 2026-10-20 · Research paper
The public should reap the benefits of the AI boom it helped build, new study argues
Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute argue that citizens are effectively 'shareholders' in AI, contributing money, data and public resources to its development, and that policymakers should ensure the AI boom delivers a 'happiness dividend' for the public. Published in Royal Society Open Science, the paper proposes adding happiness as a third goal of technology policy alongside economic growth and risk mitigation, using the established drivers of relatedness, competence and autonomy as a framework. It also warns that some uses of AI — such as chatbots that mimic human emotions, reliance on generative AI, and growth in data centres — could undermine these foundations.