The rise of generative AI fuelling fears of hyper personalised interactive media.
In our rapidly evolving digital era, the advent of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents both transformative opportunities and significant challenges.
One of the most notable aspects of generative AI is its ability to produce human-level work products, which span a broad spectrum from artistic endeavors to scientific reports. Consequently, this technology has profound implications for the job market. While the transformation may be initially distressing as roles and responsibilities shift, it is a transition that humanity can navigate, much like previous generations adapted to various work-saving innovations.
On the other hand, a more troubling concern arises from AI's potential to generate human-quality content at an unprecedented scale, including misleading and fraudulent articles, academic papers, and even videos. The risk of misinformation is not a novel predicament, but the scale that generative AI brings presents a new challenge. Nevertheless, the problem is not insurmountable. Strategies such as implementing watermarking technologies to label AI-generated content or developing AI-based countermeasures to detect and flag such content post-creation can help manage this threat.
An even more profound concern is the potential emergence of sentient AI systems. There is a prevalent fear among many researchers that AI might eventually evolve to a stage where it develops autonomous intentions, potentially conflicting with or even jeopardizing human interests. While plausible in the long run, this concern is far from our immediate reality. Fundamental enhancements in AI technology are still needed before any spontaneous sentience can emerge. Therefore, while this risk remains a crucial area of focus, it is not the most immediate threat we face.
The most significant risk stemming from generative AI lies not in its ability to mass-produce deceptive content but in its potential to produce interactive, adaptive content designed to be individually persuasive. This form of media, often termed "interactive generative media", is custom-tailored promotional content created or adjusted in real-time, intended to optimally influence a target based on personal data.
This transformative capability could redefine "targeted influence campaigns", shifting from a broad, scattergun approach to a pinpoint, heat-seeking strategy focusing on individual persuasion. Two potent manifestations of this new media could be "targeted generative advertising" and "targeted conversational influence".
Consider a scenario where you visit a website to check the weather forecast. You interact conversationally with an AI agent to retrieve the required information, and during this interaction, you are subtly exposed to promotional messages interwoven within the dialogue. This illustrates how interactive generative media can deploy targeted conversational influence, adding a new dimension to the challenges and opportunities presented by the rise of generative AI.
