New research conducted by academics at the University of Cambridge Claim AI-related technologies are also capable of persuasion and are already helping shape decisions made online. In a report by The Guardian these AI systems will soon be able to make an impact on something as individual and personal as the choices made for almost every area of life including what to buy, who to vote for and even where to live. This new study is indicative of a new trend where AI not only supports human decision-making, but leads, by interpreting and anticipating goal-direction.
AI Tools Could Soon Influence Decision-Making: The Rise of the Intention Economy
At the center of this social process is the so-called intention economy. Now in this new market with all these AI assistants, people will be able to predict, understand and probably influence human intentions. The information collected from these AI tools will be sold to firms that want to make a profit from monetization of particular behaviors. With help of these possibilities, businesses can adjust the advertisement and the offers targeted to individuals in a more effective way that would let some specific decision to be made without this person even realizing this.
The intention economy is being put forward as the heir to the so- called “attention economy.” In the attention economy, companies such as Facebook or Instagram tend to predigest the content for as long as possible, displaying advertisements to attract attention. However, the intention economy escalates this a notch higher than mere capturing of attention but predicting subsequent actions. Thus, with the development of AI, the mentioned tools will possess such a function as the ability to read micro signals and intent from users, thereby also increasing their capacity to sway decisions.
Scientists from the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence said that using AI tools on people is likely to raise new ethical and privacy issues. The more technologies are advanced, the better the possibility to forecast consumers’ actions and implement more relevant and effective services: Therefore, if firms can gain such insights, should they really have that type of access? It also has a risk factor of misuse in which certain groups of vulnerable persons or limited biases are encouraged or shaped.
The progression of real and practical AI starts to blur the line between artificial and human-made as the intention economy could thoroughly transform online interactions. In the meantime, analysts underline that AI use in decision making has to be more transparent and legally regulated. As the readily available access to information and convenience through the uses of AI increases in the future it may be necessary to contain it in a way that respects the autonomy and privacy of an individual.
The Intention Economy: How AI Will Transform Human Motivation into Profit
The emergence of the “intention economy” is a new trend in how technology firms capture value from people. Unlike the monetization of people’s attention with relevant content and advertising, the intention economy is based on the purchase and sale of personal intentions. Soon, AI tools will be a perfect instrument not only for the analysis of what people are watching on the internet but also for understanding what they want to do—whether, for example, they want to book a hotel or vote in an election. These pieces will in effect be marketed to firms that are interested in using this information to guide their operations in the future.
Dr. Jonnie Penn of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence noted that this tectonic shift is even more profound. “The internet has been that way for decades , more attention has been the medium for the exchange,” he said. Today’s social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram, feed on the users’ attention and monetize it. But, the intention will make our motivations – things we don’t just tap on, but devise to do or consider – the new valuable assets.
In this new landscape, what artificial intelligence assistant will possess the knowledge of how and what the human intends to do in subsequent processes at even enhanced precision. For instance, it could determine when you are most likely to make a purchase, or book for a holiday, based on your browsing history. This will put businesses in a relatively better position of influencing the probable customers towards making the decisions that will be in the best interest of the businesses but at the same time it creates room for influence. Instead of simply entertaining the public and keeping people’s attention on what they are doing, it will be important to actually influence what they are doing.
Such trends would be disastrous, experts argue that such evolution of the tourism sector brings unintended consequences. Dr. Penn notes that a market in human motivations might lead to a situation where firms are scrambling to tap into people’s most deeply private choices. From political campaigns to consumer goods, if HMI can be predicted then it could redefine industries and generate new forms of moral dilemmas. The issues here being whether people will be able to retain possession of their personal motivators.
As the intention economy grows in importance, there will be a need to work out the functions of innovation against the functions of privacy. Hence, the notion of ‘more personalized services powered by AI’ is rather promising in concept, prevailing concerns of autonomy are also arisen. Policymakers and authors of technology will have to regulate this new type of power as a fundamental principle to protect the rights of persons in the future dominion of cyberspace.
The Potential Dangers of the Intention Economy: AI's Impact on Free Will
All in all, the concepts of the intention economy may go far beyond the choice of products and services and influence every sphere of society. The claim has elicited concerns suggesting that, AI will revolutionize man’s ability to predict and interact with civil institutions with adverse consequences to crucial areas of civil life including but not limited to; elections, freedom of the press and even competition in the market. Dr. Jonnie Penn, from the Leverhulme Centre, rightly calls for us to think about such consequences before we let this market soar freely. The worry is that people might be volitionally manipulated into doing things they wouldn’t do by themselves.
Within the intention economy, there is a system known as large language models, which include the AI applications like ChatGPT. These models are now much more advanced in terms of being able to not only recognize what we speak, but why we are speaking and through an abundance of data. Using all aspects of a person, including speech, politics, gender, and preferences, LLMs can determine what a person is most likely to do next, making them a marketer’s dream.
Such an ability to foretell and influence behaviour at a relatively small cost provides a wide range of opportunities for marketers. AI tools could help guide the talk, the text, and even some buys, bolstering the chances of an intended end—the sale of a product, say, or a movie’s rental. The advantages for businesses are obvious, but for consumers it poses a worryingly large threat to personal choice. Nobody would be choosing things on their own, or they might be choosing things in a way that is nudged by AI.
The work contends that this power could be leveraged for practically anything that is not primarily economic in nature. Such tools can be used in political campaigns, and in media and even in every day conversation. If AI is capable to capture a person’s political affiliation and the choices he wants to make, then it will recommend which decisions and discussions will advance certain interests. This may lead to weakening of democratic activities and dilution of the environment as far as Special Groups and the population in general is concerned, necessary for good social intercourse.
While we get ready for the intention economy to fully take off, critics state that rules are needed to impede people’s freedom of choice and prevent exploitation. If AI goes unnoticed, it becomes instrumental in controlling people’s choice and use resulting in such impacts like compromised elections and weakened trust in public institutions. That is why the world should decide what kind of innovations are waiting for humanity and how to prevent AI from becoming a tool of tyranny against freedom and democracy.
