In the last decade we have observed a gradual disenchantment with the reign of elites and experts. The legitimacy of the experts has traditionally been associated with governmental authority or high levels of expertise. On the one hand, with the rise of automation and digital platforms, everyone appears to have a say, the crowd has become ‘wiser’, traditional experts are mistrusted, and the tendency of artificial intelligence to replace to replace professionals in the legal, health, and education sectors grows. On the other, automation and platform participation are still not able to take into account the legal and ethical challenges of specific cases, understand the world and relate to persons in similar ways to professionals. This panel discusses the rise and fall of traditional and new experts through the discussion of professional judgment in health and education and law, the consideration given to experts in neuroscience, and in the regulation of the platform economy.