Artificial intelligence tools could be used to manipulate online audiences into making decisions – from what to buy to who to vote with, Cambridge University experts say.
The paper highlights a new emerging market for “digital signals of intent” – known as the “intention economy” – where AI assistants understand, predict and manipulate human intent and sell this information to companies that can profit from it.
The intention economy is presented by researchers at the Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) in Cambridge as a successor to the attention economy, where social networks keep users connected to platforms and serve them advertisements.
“It’s Gonna Be a Gold Rush”
The intention economy involves organizations in the AI technology industry selling information to the highest bidder. Companies communicate what they know about your motivations, from plans for a hotel stay to opinions about a political candidate.
“For decades, attention has been the currency of the Internet. Sharing attention with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram has driven online commerce. If not regulated, the intention economy will treat your motivations as the new currency. It will be a gold rush for those who target, direct and sell human intentions,” said Dr. Jonnie Penn, Technology Historian at LCFI.
The technology will “anticipate and guide” users
The study claims that large linguistic models (LLM), the technology behind AI tools such as the ChatGPT chatbot, will be used to “anticipate and target” users based on “intentional, behavioral and psychological data”, according to The Guardian.
“We should begin to consider the likely impact such a market would have on human aspirations, including free and fair elections, a free press, and fair market competition, before we fall victim to its unintended consequences “, added dr. Penn.
The authors of the research stated that the attention economy allows advertisers to buy access to users’ attention today through real-time auctions on advertising exchanges, or to buy it in the future by purchasing a month’s worth of advertising space on a billboard.
We also recommend that you read:
Nokia, one of the first phone companies, launches an online archive with the history of the brand
How do we overcome loneliness in the online age?
Poor mental health has been linked to consumption of negative online content
Secret Service Chief’s Warning: Artificial Intelligence Will Accelerate Online Radicalization
Source: www.descopera.ro
