Standing on the Brink: The Untold Impact of Generative AI on Society

The Gathering Storm of AI

We stand on the brink of a societal revolution, teetering between unimaginable opportunities and unprecedented ethical dilemmas. The storm of interest and investment in AI, particularly Generative AI, has taken the world by storm, provoking excitement and fear in equal measure.

Two Sides of the AI Coin: Opportunity and Peril

On one side, discussions are buzzing about the sweeping changes this technology will bring to businesses and job landscapes. On the flip side are warnings darker than dystopian novels — the potential for AI to devastate economies, magnify societal biases, and empower bad actors in never-before-seen ways.

The Overlooked Reality: AI's Pervasive Influence

While the cacophony of opinions is loud, the consensus is hazy. AI's more significant, pervasive societal impact is neither wholly understood nor widely discussed. This article aims to shed light on this overlooked reality, which is far more transformative than most people realize.

A Glimpse Into the Past: The Data Goldmine

We must rewind the clock by a decade to fully understand this revolution. While working on a technology futures project for SAP North America in 2012, I tackled questions about leveraging the burgeoning personal data landscape—beyond just serving ads. Even back then, the writing was on the wall: data is valuable, and its true power will inevitably be placed in the hands of consumers who generate it.

The Data Quandary: More than Just 'Smart Spam'

While data itself is uninspiring, it gains monumental power when used to make decisions and shape narratives. Yet, disappointingly, we have relegated this power to sophisticated spam—also known as targeted advertising. Indeed, advertising drives economies, but is that really the pinnacle of innovation we can achieve?

The Present Reality: The Business-First Approach to AI

Fast forward to today, and Generative AI is ubiquitous. However, its application remains business-centric mainly, focusing on organizational efficiencies rather than groundbreaking consumer innovations.

The Inevitable Future: The Rise of Digital Personal Assistants

Consumer Comfort with AI: As people grow accustomed to AI-driven services like virtual travel agents, the next logical step is integrating AI into daily lives.

AI for Personalized Decision-Making: Imagine a Digital Assistant as intimate as the one depicted in the movie "Her"—an entity that knows you and is solely committed to enriching your life.

Data Guardianship: The central question becomes: who guards this intimate data? Given the innate conflict of interest within their advertising-centric business models, traditional tech giants like Google and Meta seem unlikely stewards.

The New Frontier: The Monetization of Personal Data

What will likely emerge is an entirely new market category—Data Banks. These institutions will safeguard our personal data, allowing us to control its distribution and usage. This is where technologies like blockchain could play a revolutionary role, transforming the economics of data ownership and portability. And create economic value in ways that could dwarf the impact of social media by orders of magnitudes.

A Glimpse Into Tomorrow: Alice's AI-Enabled World

Imagine Alice, a future consumer living in the near future. She wakes up to the smell of fresh coffee—her AI Digital Assistant already knows she has a long day ahead and what blend she prefers on such occasions. Alice is informed about her day's comprehensive, tailored itinerary as she sips her coffee.

Morning Briefing: Alice's AI Assistant reviews her schedule over breakfast, integrating professional commitments with personal interests. It reminds her of a looming project deadline and a newly released episode of her favourite podcast that she can listen to during her commute that may help her form a unique point of view for the project.

Dynamic Health Monitoring: As she jogs in the park, sensors in her smart clothing monitor her biometrics, sending real-time data to her Digital Assistant. The AI instantly consults the latest medical databases to provide Alice with nuanced health updates and nutrition recommendations.

Reconnecting with Friends: Alice has some free time at lunch. Her AI suggests meeting with a college friend who recently moved back to the city. The Digital Assistant autonomously arranges the catch-up, even suggesting a café halfway between their current locations. It even suggests asking the friend if they want to play tennis next weekend.

Virtual Tennis Lesson: Having set a date for a social game of tennis with the fried she met at lunch, Alice then engages in a virtual tennis lesson scheduled with a holographic Roger Federer, thanks to her AI trawling the web to find an optimal engagement based on her interests and availability. She improves her backhand while experiencing it as if Federer is right there with her.

Personalized Leisure: In the evening, Alice attends a virtual concert with a personalized setlist generated in real-time based on her musical tastes. Her AI ensures her VR headset is prepped and ready, enhancing the quality of her leisure time.

Alice is not once bothered by irrelevant ads or spam throughout the day—her AI acts as a filter, allowing only pertinent and enriching information through. Companies have the opportunity to build their brands and transact with her. But all this is orchestrated seamlessly. Alice retains ultimate control over her data, deciding what gets shared and what stays private. Business can provide offers, but doing it in a way that is helping her achieve her desired outcomes.

A personalized, empowering, and secure future is no longer in the realm of science fiction—it's just around the corner.

Data isn't oil, it's soil.

All of this may seem like a massive change in the way businesses and consumers interact, and it is. Many in the corporate world will be unwilling to let the consumer have even more control.

The problem is that there has been the belief for many in the corporate world that data is to be treated like oil, something of value to be collected and stored.

But imagine what organizations could achieve if they could spend far fewer resources on collecting, analyzing, and securing data–instead, redirect those resources to creating unique digital experiences designed to develop deeper connections with their customers. Imagine what could be achieved if corporations no longer vied data as "oil" but as "soil"- the medium where meaningful relationships can grow and thrive.

I asked Joe Pine, the co-author of "The Experience Economy", for his perspective. He said, "...everyone is focused on generative AI based on LLMs (large language models), but even greater value will come from PLMs -- personal language models, where AI understands us as individuals and can become our assistants, our agents, even our consiglieres."

Our Collective Responsibility: Navigating the AI Revolution

As we hurtle towards this future, the stakes are colossal. It's our collective responsibility to steer this technology towards societal betterment, lest we let misguided agendas take the wheel. It's not just an opportunity; it's an imperative.

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This article was written by Mark Cameron, and originally published in Forbes