Professor Ariel Ezrachi Interviewed on BBC Click

Pembroke Fellow and Tutor in Law and Slaughter and May Professor of Competition Law, Professor Ariel Ezrachi, was recently interviewed at Pembroke College for the BBC production, ‘Click’.

In an engaging episode focused on voice-controlled personal assistants, titled ‘Do Androids Dream of Chocolate Cake’, Prof. Ezrachi shared his expertise in competition law. He addressed increased concerns about the future of competition in light of the rise of the digital helper.

He said, ‘this is not the end of the world; it is just the end of competition as we know it…’

‘When you have a helper which is voice activated… you are one step further from the ability to look for outside options; from the ability to check if the price you receive is actually the best price. The likelihood is that, in a two side market, the helper is actually serving the platform.’

‘Today our default assumption is that the price you receive is the competitive price’, he continued.

‘And you’re suggesting that it won’t be?’ the interviewer asked.

‘I’m telling you that it’s not.’

Catch up on the episode in full here (interview begins at 04:50mins).

Prof. Ezrachi is renowned for his expertise in competition law and recently published a book with co-author Maurice E. Stucke titled Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy.