Prominent speaker, entrepreneur and marketing expert Scott Galloway shares his thoughts on the role of humans in a landscape where AI is beginning to mean more and more.
1. Not every new technology is a breakthrough
Scott Galloway admits that he is a technology sceptic – space tourism technologies, virtual reality kits and Web 3.0 are, in his view, highly ‘overrated’ innovations.
– At one time we were all very excited about 3D printers. And what is the biggest and most advanced 3D printer today? It is China – he states. According to him, many developments that generated considerable hype have failed to meet ambitious goals – such as autonomous cars.
To assess the sustainability of the technology, Scott Galloway proposes a basic test: how obvious are its use cases? What do we use more often: online banking or cryptocurrencies? GPS or the metaverse? He cautions against getting over-excited about AI – perhaps our expectations here too are for the time being greatly exaggerated.
2. Impact of AI on the labour market and stock market
The aftermath of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine triggered a chain reaction – reduced product supply, supply chain disruption, rising inflation and cost of living. In the technology sector, there has been a clear trend of cutting costs while improving products. In the consumer sector, we have seen the opposite and price increases.
And how does inflation affect the labour market? If we look at the ratio of jobseekers to vacancies, in the past, periods of low inflation coincided with a surplus of jobseekers, while peak inflation correlated with a high number of vacancies. Today, however, we can expect some of the jobs to be taken away by AI, which, with the trend of cost-cutting in the technology sector, will result in lower inflation.
As for the impact of AI on the stock market, according to Galloway, it is already perfectly visible. The seven listed companies with the highest profit so far in 2023 according to the NASDAQ index indirectly owe their growth to artificial intelligence technology.
3. One answer instead of hundreds
Galloway also draws attention to productivity rates – while we have seen technological advances over the years, productivity has been declining. Now, however, thanks to AI, we can expect a change. – Until now, we used to say that ‘information is the new oil’. But it has turned out that we are inundated with data that is hard to turn into concrete action,” says Galloway. Google’s search engine was supposed to make it easier for us to find the most reliable information, but today we see mostly sponsored content. Therefore, we need a change – and we can experience it with AI.
How? Galloway predicts that AI could be a ‘specialist shop’ in an endless world of questions. Instead of giving us hundreds of results, it will provide us with a single, usually correct, answer. And we increasingly want narrowed rather than infinite choices – AI could bring us huge time savings here. As with everything, there are also two ends to this stick. While the power of artificial intelligence will certainly benefit infrastructure providers and services with a recommendation engine at their heart, such as Netflix, at the same time, jobs will be lost to people whose work AI will do faster and more efficiently.
4. Where will AI mess up the most?
The industry that is likely to experience the greatest disruption caused by AI is healthcare. We have an opportunity to truly revolutionise and move from a ‘disease treatment’ industry to a ‘lifestyle change’ model. By integrating AI mechanisms into everyday life, we will be able to more easily prevent most diseases by adapting our diet, exercise or sleep duration to our body’s needs.
Galloway also points to the need for detailed regulation of the operation of generative AI models – their absence could mean the scourge of disinformation, influencing election results or destroying jobs, among other things. – We need concrete solutions, and we need them fast, because the current penalties for the unethical actions of tech giants are not enough, he says. In his view, the AI industry should be as heavily regulated as the financial industry.
5. Greatest danger: loneliness
However, the biggest threat posed by AI is not related to privacy violations or ethical dilemmas, but to a lack of interpersonal interaction. Already, many young people are opting for virtual relationships or friendships and finding it difficult to make connections in real life. For a small monthly fee, everyone will be able to have a ‘girlfriend’ or ‘boyfriend’, and many will consciously opt out of real relationships.
6. What matters
Technology does not make us happy. As Galloway points out – and as research shows – the most important thing for us as humans is meaningful relationships with other people. However, the statistics are looking worse and worse – today, one in seven men in the US does not have a single friend. We don’t need cryptocurrencies to be happy – we need family, a circle of trusted people and to be with another human being. And no artificial intelligence can replace that.
Scott Galloway, however, remains optimistic. – I believe in a future based on AI and human collaboration. I also believe that catastrophic thinking about AI is not justified. Technology people like to think their product will change the world, but I wouldn’t consider it in the category of the salvation or destruction of humanity. Although I am a sceptic and sometimes see the world in black colours, at the end of the day the glass is half full for me,” he concludes.