A tiny moral shift with massive consequences: the real crime is not ignorance, but knowingly exploiting those who do not know. This piece shows how information asymmetry has shaped power throughout history, why AI is finally breaking that pattern, and why both experts and non‑experts now face a clear choice: keep playing the old extraction game, or use these new tools to make exploitation obsolete.
I. The Lottery of Knowledge
When I was six, I had a teacher who took the time to explain why things worked, not just how. Another child, three streets away, had a teacher who yelled and punished. That difference has nothing to do with merit. It is a lottery.
At fifteen, I had access to a family bookshelf with economics books lying around. Another teenager, on the other side of town, had never seen a single book at home. That difference has nothing to do with intelligence. It is an accident.
At twenty‑five, I had a mentor who patiently explained how to read a balance sheet. Another young professional never had that chance. That difference has nothing to do with human worth. It is luck. We did not choose the circumstances that gave us access to some knowledge rather than others. Philosopher John Rawls imagined a thought experiment: if you had to design a just society without knowing in advance whether you would be born rich or poor, educated or not, which society would you choose? He called this the "veil of ignorance."
The answer is obvious: you would choose a society where those who had the good fortune to learn are not allowed to exploit those who did not.
II. The Real Moral Fault Line
Here is the central idea: the worst moral crime is not not knowing. It is knowing, and still choosing to exploit the person who does not know.
Take a simple example. You bring your car to the garage. The mechanic tells you your exhaust must be changed immediately, otherwise it is dangerous. It will cost €800. You know nothing about cars. You trust them. You pay.
Two scenarios: Scenario A: The exhaust really was dangerous. The mechanic told you the truth. They used their expertise in your best interest. Scenario B: The exhaust was perfectly functional. The mechanic knew it. They took advantage of your ignorance to charge for a useless repair.
In scenario B, who is morally guilty?
Not you. You did what any reasonable person does: trust an expert in a field where you are not competent. You could not become an expert in automotive mechanics just to verify this claim.
The guilty party is the mechanic. Because they knew. They had all the information. They fully understood the situation. And they consciously chose to profit from your vulnerability.
This simple principle extends to the whole of society.
III. Systemic Amplification
Now let us raise the complexity a notch. Exploited ignorance never stays isolated. It amplifies.
Imagine a small town of 10,000 inhabitants. One day, a rumor spreads: "People from the north side are poisoning our water." It is false. But people are afraid. They are not fools – they simply lack reliable information about how the water treatment system works, about toxicology, about verification mechanisms.
This rumor does not appear spontaneously. Someone started it. Maybe a property developer who wants prices in the north side to crash so they can buy cheap. Maybe a politician looking for a scapegoat to distract from their disastrous management.
This person knows it is false. They understand the mechanisms. They still choose to manipulate collective fear.
Result: innocent families in the north side are attacked. Shops close. Children are bullied at school. The town tears itself apart.
Who is responsible?
Yes, those who committed the violence have direct responsibility and must be punished. But the one who knowingly triggered this mechanism, fully aware of the foreseeable consequences, bears a far heavier responsibility.
It is the difference between the spark and the hand that lit it knowing there was gasoline everywhere.
IV. The Hierarchy of Guilt
Let us now build a coherent moral scale. Level 1: Basic responsibility
You act. Your actions have consequences. Whether you knew or not, whether you had the means to know or not, there is a minimal responsibility. If you hurt someone, even unintentionally, even out of ignorance, it counts. This is the foundation of any legal system. Level 2: Responsibility aggravated by knowledge
You knew what was going to happen. You had all the elements to understand. And you did it anyway. Your responsibility is multiplied. Level 3: Systemic responsibility
You created the conditions that make it likely others will commit harmful acts. You designed the system. You knew exactly what would result from it. Your responsibility is total.
A concrete example to illustrate the three levels:
- Imagine a bridge that collapses, killing ten people.
- Level 1: A pedestrian walks on the bridge at the moment it gives way. Their weight did not cause the collapse, but they were there. Minimal responsibility, no real moral guilt.
- Level 2: An engineer sees worrying cracks but says nothing because they do not want trouble with management. They knew. They chose silence. Serious responsibility.
- Level 3: The director of the construction company used substandard materials to increase their margin, knowing the bridge would not last long. They consciously engineered the conditions for catastrophe. Maximum responsibility.
In our current system, we sometimes punish level 2, and rarely level 3. Because level 3 usually has the resources to protect themself, muddy the waters, and hire the best lawyers. But morally, the hierarchy of guilt should be exactly the opposite.
V. The Fundamental Equality of Ignorances
Here is what we must understand: we are all ignorant in most domains.
I understand nothing about medicine. When I go to the doctor, I am in the same vulnerable position as someone who understands nothing about finance when facing their banker. I simply hope the doctor will make the right moral choice: use their expertise in my interest, not their own.
I understand nothing about law. When I have to sign a complex contract, I am at the mercy of the lawyer. I hope they will not take advantage of my ignorance to make me sign something that mainly benefits them.
I understand nothing about plumbing. When a leak appears at home, I am vulnerable in front of the plumber. I hope they will not bill me imaginary hours of work. In a complex society, we delegate our trust to hundreds of different experts. Sociologist Max Weber called this the rationality of modern society: it is impossible to be an expert in everything, so we specialize and trust others for their specializations.
This interdependence does not make us inferior to one another. It makes us equal in our shared vulnerability.
The doctor who exploits my medical ignorance is no better than the banker who exploits someone else’s financial ignorance. The lawyer who abuses my ignorance of the law is no better than the mechanic who abuses another person’s ignorance of cars.
We are all, in turn, the expert and the ignorant person. The only thing that truly matters is what we choose to do when we are the expert.
VI. The Architects of Harm
Let us climb one more level. Beyond individual professionals making bad choices, there are those who design entire systems of exploitation.
Take social networks. It is no accident that you scroll for hours without realizing it. Teams of engineers, psychologists, and designers have spent thousands of hours studying how to maximize your “engagement” – a euphemism for “addiction.”
They know exactly what they are doing. They know the research on psychological impact. They understand the mechanisms of dopamine, social validation, fear of missing out (FOMO). They have A/B‑tested hundreds of variants to find the one that keeps you glued the longest. They know.
They know it creates anxiety, depression, political polarization. They know teenagers develop eating disorders by comparing their bodies to retouched images. They know entire democracies are destabilized by the information bubbles they create.
And they do it anyway. Because the more time you spend there, the more ads they can sell.
It is not users who are guilty for becoming addicted. It is the designers who deliberately built addictive systems, fully understanding the consequences. They are the real criminals.
The same goes for finance. The toxic financial products that caused the 2008 crisis were not created by accident. They were deliberately engineered by very smart people who fully understood they were pushing risk onto people who did not understand what they were buying.
The mathematician structuring a complex derivative knows they are creating something 99% of buyers will never truly understand. The executive who approves its commercialization knows they are exploiting an information asymmetry.
They know. And they choose to go ahead anyway.
VII. All of Human History in One Line
Let us step back. Look at history as a whole. The history of humanity is the history of exploiting privileged information.
Priests who could read while the population was illiterate controlled societies for centuries. Religious information was their monopoly. They decided what the sacred texts “really” said. People had to take them at their word.
Nobles who understood the art of war and owned weapons dominated those who only knew how to till the land. Military and tactical information was their advantage.
Merchants who knew the trade routes and prices in different cities grew rich by exploiting those who only had access to their local market. Information about relative prices was their treasure.
Bankers who understood the mechanisms of credit and compound interest amassed huge fortunes by lending to people who did not really grasp what they were signing. Financial information was their weapon.
Industrialists who mastered new technologies built empires by employing workers who understood only a tiny fraction of the production process. Technical information was their power. In every era, power belonged to those who held information others did not have.
And in every era, that power was widely exploited. Not always, not by everyone, but enough that exploitation was the rule rather than the exception.
Sometimes, revolutions democratized information. The printing press broke the monopoly of scribes. Mandatory public schooling broke the monopoly on literacy. The internet broke the monopoly on access to raw information.
But every time, new asymmetries emerged. More complex. More sophisticated. Harder to detect.
The lawyer, the doctor, the banker, the strategy consultant, the cybersecurity expert – all possess knowledge so specialized that the average citizen cannot verify their claims. People must trust them. And that trust is constantly betrayed by those who choose exploitation.
VIII. The Historical Turning Point
But today we are at a tipping point in this centuries‑long story. For the first time in human history, we have a tool that can democratize almost any expertise.
Artificial intelligence is not just another technology. It is a leveler of information asymmetries on a scale we have never seen before.
You have a meeting with your banker who wants to sell you an investment product? Before you go, you can now talk to an AI that has read all the finance books, all the academic reports, all the analyses of similar products. It can explain in simple language what those management fees really are, what they will cost you over 30 years, and what alternatives exist. You arrive at the meeting with the knowledge level of an expert.
Your doctor suggests a treatment? You can now consult an AI that has gone through all the medical literature, knows all the side effects, can explain the alternatives, and tell you whether this is truly the first‑line treatment or whether your doctor might have a conflict of interest with the lab. You are no longer at the mercy of their single judgment.
A salesperson tells you this washing machine is the best on the market? You can immediately check with an AI that has analyzed all comparative tests, all customer reviews, all reliability reports. You can no longer be manipulated as easily.
This is not theoretical. It is happening now. These tools exist. They are accessible. Often free or for a few euros per month. The information asymmetry that has structured all of human history is starting to crumble.
IX. To Those Who Know and Still Hesitate
You had the good fortune to acquire expertise. Maybe you are a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a consultant, a developer. You know things most people do not.
You are at a crossroads.
On one side, the historical model: profit from this asymmetry. Charge the client as much as possible. Create artificial complexity to justify your fees. Use jargon to intimidate. Sell what is most profitable for you, not what helps them most.
It is lucrative in the short term. Many of your peers do exactly that. It is legal, in most cases.
On the other side: use your expertise in the best interest of those who trust you. Explain clearly. Point them toward the best solution for them, even if it earns you less. Treat each client the way you would want to be treated if the roles were reversed. Here is why you should choose the second side, even from a selfish perspective:
The tools I just described will make exploitation increasingly difficult. Your clients will show up more and more informed. More and more able to verify what you say. Harder and harder to manipulate.
Those who built their business on exploiting asymmetry will see their model collapse. Those who built their reputation on integrity will thrive. The era of exploitation is coming to an end. Not because of morality. Because it is becoming obsolete.
So you can keep playing the old game and find yourself outdated in ten years. Or you can get on the right side of history now.
This is not even about altruism. It is about foresight. Join the right camp while there is still time.
X. To Those Who Do Not Yet Know
And now, the most important message.
If you are someone who often feels overwhelmed in front of experts. If you feel you never really understand what you are signing. If you have already felt that unpleasant sensation that you were just sold something useless but did not know how to prove it. You are not stupid. You are not incompetent. You simply lacked access to information.
But that era is over.
You now have, literally in your pocket, the equivalent of a world‑class expert in almost every field. Free or almost. Use it.
Before signing an insurance contract, ask an AI. Have it analyze the clauses. Explain the potential traps. Compare it with alternatives.
Before buying a complex product, ask an AI. Have it explain the technical specifications. Tell you whether the price is justified. Show you cheaper alternatives that do the same job.
Before voting for a candidate, ask an AI. Have it analyze their platform. Explain the concrete implications of their proposals. Highlight potential contradictions. Become your own expert.
No, you will not replace ten years of medical school with a few AI conversations. But you will gain enough understanding to ask the right questions. To spot inconsistencies. To recognize when a professional is trying to manipulate you. And that changes everything.
Because the person trying to scam you is betting on your ignorance. They are counting on you nodding along without understanding when they use technical terms. They are counting on you not double‑checking their claims.
When you walk in knowing what you are talking about, their game collapses immediately.
A few decades ago, educating yourself about a complex topic required hundreds of hours. Expensive books. Maybe paid courses. A huge investment of time and money.
Today, a handful of well‑structured conversations with an AI are enough to gain a functional understanding of almost any topic. There is no longer any excuse to stay ignorant about the topics that impact your life.
Your health? Educate yourself.
Your finances? Educate yourself.
Your rights? Educate yourself.
The technology you use? Educate yourself.
The politics that govern you? Educate yourself. Not to become an expert. Just to stop being at the mercy of those who are.
Conclusion: The End of an Era
We are at the end of a millennia‑long era.
The era where power naturally flowed from owning rare information.
The era where experts could easily exploit non‑experts.
The era where information asymmetry was a permanent condition you simply had to live with. That era is ending.
In the coming years, two camps will emerge: The first camp: Those who will fight to preserve asymmetry. Who will create artificial complexity. Who will lobby against transparency. Who will use law and regulation to build barriers to entry. Who will do everything they can to keep their expertise a sealed mystery. The second camp: Those who will embrace the democratization of knowledge. Who will build tools that explain rather than obscure. Who will value their expertise not by hoarding information but by the quality of their judgment. Who will understand that in a world where information is accessible, wisdom becomes the rare and precious resource. Choose your camp.
If you are a professional with expertise: join the second camp. Not out of altruism. Out of clarity. Exploitation has no future. Integrity does.
If you are someone who feels overwhelmed by the complexity of the world: arm yourself. The tools exist. Free. Accessible. Powerful. Use them. Become impossible to manipulate. The history of humanity has been the history of exploiting information asymmetry. Let us make the next chapter different.
