CONCEPT
Epistemic Capture
The condition in which concentrated interests shape not merely the policies but the categories, metrics, and terms through which the policy domain is understood — regulatory capture extended to the structure of knowledge itself.
Epistemic capture is a more subtle and more consequential condition than regulatory capture: it occurs when concentrated interests shape not merely the policies that govern a domain but the categories through which the domain is understood, the questions considered important, the metrics by which success is measured, and the terms in which collective interest is articulated. Where regulatory capture produces policies favorable to incumbents, epistemic capture ensures that the very language available for discussing alternatives is structured by incumbent perspectives. The AI governance landscape exhibits both forms of capture simultaneously, with epistemic capture arguably the more dangerous because it operates below the threshold of conscious awareness even among those who suffer its effects.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The mechanism of epistemic capture operates through the infrastructure of knowledge production. The research that informs policy discussion is produced by institutions whose funding, personnel, and intellectual networks are substantially shaped by industry. The benchmarks used to evaluate