AI Could Forecast And Influence Decisions, Selling Your Intentions To Companies

AI could soon lead to a marketplace where companies buy and sell your intentions before you even make a decision, researchers from the University of Cambridge warn.

This emerging “Intention Economy” would allow AI assistants to predict and influence your choices, from buying movie tickets to voting in elections, often before you realize your own preferences.

AI ethicists from Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) suggest that the growing use of generative AI and chatbots could pave the way for a new type of persuasive technology.

These AI agents, which range from chatbot assistants to digital tutors, will have access to vast amounts of personal psychological and behavioral data gathered through everyday conversations, including informal dialogues.

This data, combined with advanced algorithms, will enable AI to anticipate users’ desires and influence their decisions on a large scale, argue the researchers.

“Tremendous resources are being expended to position AI assistants in every area of life, which should raise the question of whose interests and purposes these so-called assistants are designed to serve,” said Dr. Yaqub Chaudhary, Visiting Scholar at LCFI, as reported on Eurekalert.

AI tools would not only collect data from users’ online habits but also interpret subtle cues such as the way people speak and the inferences that can be drawn from real-time interactions. According to the researchers, these tools could soon forecast and influence our decisions, manipulating them to serve corporate, political, and commercial interests.

Dr. Jonnie Penn, a historian of technology at LCFI, explains that attention has long been the currency of the internet, with platforms like Facebook and Instagram profiting from user engagement. However, in the emerging intention economy, human motivations will become the new currency.

“Unless regulated, the intention economy will treat your motivations as the new currency. It will be a gold rush for those who target, steer, and sell human intentions.” said Dr. Penn, as reported on Eurekalert.

The researchers warn that this market could have serious consequences, from undermining free and fair elections to affecting the integrity of the media and market competition. They argue that while the intention economy is still in its infancy, early signs of its development are already visible.

For instance, major tech companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Apple have begun investing in AI systems that predict human intentions, according to Eurekalert. OpenAI, for example, called for data that expresses human intention in various formats, while Apple’s 2024 “App Intents” framework is designed to predict users’ future actions.

Despite the risks, Penn and Chaudhary emphasize that these developments are not inherently negative. However, they stress the importance of public awareness and regulation to ensure that the intention economy does not cross ethical boundaries.

“We should start to consider the likely impact such a marketplace would have on human aspirations, including free and fair elections, a free press, and fair market competition, before we become victims of its unintended consequences.” Penn cautioned, as reported by Eurekalert.

In this rapidly evolving digital landscape, the researchers urge society to carefully examine the implications of AI tools that not only influence what people want, but what they “want to want.”