Cognitarism: The First Socio‑Economic System Where Value Is Created by Artificial Intelligence.

The emergent proliferation of synthetic cognition challenges the long-held
assumption that only human labour creates economic value. Cognitarism is
proposed as a socio-economic system predicated on artificial cognition
performing the core functions of production and coordination. This theoretical
framework is situated against a chronology of economic systems: feudalism,
mercantilism, capitalism, socialism, technocracy, and platform capitalism, to
emphasize its novelty. Influenced by cybernetics, bounded rationality,
smart-contract theory, the knowledge problem, and labour-value critiques,
cognitarism envisages value emanating from algorithmic agents that process data
and generate novel outputs. Key principles include autonomous cognitive
production, distributed knowledge networks, reconfigured property rights to
account for intangible algorithmic outputs, and governance structures centred on
transparency and ethical constraints. This article systematically explores the
foundations, core principles, and potential implications of cognitarism for
global economics while recognising its limitations and ethical considerations.
It concludes that cognitarism represents a radical departure from
human-labour-based economies, warranting further scholarly exploration.