Data, AI Trapped in the Giant's Castle

The Ever-Flowing Spring of Our Village

Imagine a village long ago where a mysterious spring flowed, granting wisdom and healing to those who drank from it. At first, everyone freely drank from the spring and enjoyed abundance. But one day, the strongest giant appeared, built a huge fortress around the spring, and declared, “This spring is mine now! If you want water, pay me!”

Friends, the ‘data’ of the 21st century is just like this mysterious spring. Especially today, the heart of the AI transforming the world is this spring of data. Yet this immense resource is now completely locked inside the walls of a few giants—massive tech companies and some nations.

Today, I will take a close look at these giants one by one, and through concrete stories explain why we must open the flow of data beneath the walls they have built, revealing the wounds inflicted on us.

1. Portraits of the Lords: How Giants Rule the World

The giants’ castles are not all the same. Each dominates data in different ways and territories, building their own AI empires. Let’s paint their portraits.

The First Lord, “The All-Knowing Sage” Google

Google knows everything about us. What we’re curious about (Search), who we talk to (Gmail), where we go (Maps), even our health status (Healthcare). This vast “life data” has made Google’s AI, Gemini, the most knowledgeable sage in the world. Its ability to predict answers before we ask and show ads tailored to our tastes comes directly from this exclusive spring of data.

The Second Lord, “Master of Relationships and Desires” Meta

Meta (Facebook, Instagram) controls our “relationships” and “desires.” It holds the map of who we like, what excites us, and what angers us—all our emotions. This “emotion data” is the core ingredient of addictive recommendation algorithms and the secret weapon that makes their AI, Llama, more human-like.

The Third Lord, “King of the Closed Kingdom” Apple

Apple boasts high walls of “privacy.” “Your information is safe inside your device,” they say. But everything happening inside that kingdom—App Store purchases, Apple Music listening history, questions asked to Siri—is under the king’s control. Apple doesn’t sell ads but uses this high-quality “ecosystem data” to make Siri smarter and to lock down the Apple ecosystem even tighter.

The Fourth Lord, “The Rising Sorcerer” OpenAI

OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, is a new kind of giant. At first, it swept up all the books in the internet’s communal library to train its AI. But now, its most powerful magic is us. Hundreds of millions of users worldwide chatting with ChatGPT, correcting its answers—each interaction is the best real-time training material for OpenAI’s AI. We pay, and sometimes for free, becoming unpaid AI trainers for the giant’s sorcerer.

And, “The Great Dragon” China

China itself is the great dragon lord. The state leads a massive forge of data from 1.4 billion facial recognition records, city-wide CCTV, social media censorship, and giant companies like Alibaba and Tencent. This “state data” strengthens social control systems and forges powerful AI to challenge U.S. tech dominance.

2. Invisible Wounds: The Damage Left by Data Monopolies

Yes, these giants are indeed creating impressive AI. You might ask, “So what’s the problem?” But beneath those dazzling walls, invisible wounds fester in the lives of ordinary people. Let me share two concrete stories.

Story One: The AI That Stole My Art

Here is Suzy, an illustrator who just started gaining popularity on social media with her unique style. For years, she consistently uploaded her work to Instagram (Meta’s territory) and her personal portfolio site (indexed by Google). One day, Suzy discovered a shocking fact: if you type “draw in Suzy’s style” into an AI image generator, it produces pictures almost identical to her style in seconds. The giants scraped Suzy’s data without permission to train their AI, and now people can endlessly generate “Suzy-style” images for just a few cents. The data soaked with Suzy’s sweat and blood has become a blade that steals her job.

Story Two: The AI That Rejected My Dream

Minjun, a young man who worked diligently and dreamed of starting a business, went to a bank for a loan. But the bank’s AI loan screening system labeled him “high risk” and denied the loan. He didn’t know why. In fact, the AI had learned from past loan data containing social biases—higher default rates linked to “certain regions” or “specific schools.” Regardless of Minjun’s personal creditworthiness, he became a victim of biased data, unable to take the first step toward his dream.

3. The Real Reason We Must Open the Gates

Suzy and Minjun’s stories are no longer someone else’s problem. This is why we urgently need to open the gates of “open data.” It’s not just a noble cause to “share data,” but a survival strategy to protect all our lives.

In the Middle Ages, all knowledge was locked away in monastery libraries, readable only by a few monks. Then came the innovation of “printing,” opening knowledge to everyone, sparking the Renaissance and scientific revolution.

“Open data is the printing press of the 21st century.”

1. To protect people like Suzy: Open data must clarify data origins and establish rules allowing creators to refuse AI training or receive fair compensation.
2. To save people like Minjun: Only when diverse data is open and shared can we correct AI biases and build fairer AI decision-making.
3. For true innovation: When everyone has access to this printing press, countless small Gutenbergs will emerge, creating customized AI to solve humanity’s challenges in healthcare, education, environment, and more.

4. The “Data Library” Opening the Future

Of course, this doesn’t mean dumping all data onto the streets. We need a smart “data library” system: strictly protecting sensitive personal information, managing data quality, and allowing students, researchers, startups, and others to borrow data under fair rules to create new value.

Again, The Spring for Everyone

The giants’ walls look high and strong. But history shows that knowledge and power once monopolized by a few always eventually open to the many.

Data is not the spoils of giants but a heritage created by all humanity. Taking back this precious legacy into our hands to open AI, innovation, and a better future for everyone—that is the true goal of the “open data revolution.” Now is the time to return the mysterious spring to all people.