You asked for more so here you go: the Jan 11th, 2018 issue of The Economist dedicates an article in the Finance and economics section to a recent paper by a bunch of researchers from Stanford, Columbia and Microsoft called "Should we treat Data as Labor? Moving beyond 'Free'".

A number of interesting insights in it, the first being, in my opinion, the following: "creating or strengthening absent markets, we can simultaneously address the inequality, stagnation and sociopolitical conflict afflicting developed countries."

Another important point "Thinkers promoting the idea of a “universal basic income (UBI)” have even suggested dignity based on work is becoming outdated and that as AI replaces humans leisure may be a growing source of identity" - identity based on leisure rather than work ! That can send a chill won the spine ... However, "for the medium term treating online experiences as purely consumption holds risks for the social and political fabric of developed countries." - and that is what we are experiencing in a number of developed countries.

Therefore the authors proposal, "Data as Labor (DaL) views data work as a new source of “digital dignity”." When you are reading and posting on Steemit you are doing work - producing and curating content for other people that follow you to read and find useful content easier, respectively. You participate in the evolution of knowledge.

In this respect the GDPR regulation of the EU is a trailblazer legal framework.

Yet this paper again, although it has AI and ML in focus, doesn't seem to make the connection with blockchain. Which is possibly to be related to a widely lamented fact: the relatively low number of economists taking interest in blockchain (as opposed to large numbers of lawyers for instance)