While it's by no means our only focus, being a FinTech company we're quite close to, and observant of, the tech industry overall. Particularly we care to know what's hot, what's bubbly, and what's making a come back.

Let's focus on GenAI. For context ChatGPT was released about 15 months ago. A human baby at that age will usually say one or two words and take a few steps on its own. Meanwhile, Gen AI is effectively propelling us into the fourth industrial revolution: encompassing the notion of harmonious human–machine collaborations, with a specific focus on the well-being of the multiple stakeholders (CNBC, 2023; Journal of Retailing, 2022).

Now, before you put on your tin foil hats and start kicking and screaming over how AI will doom us all, let's take a deep breath and imagine a future where technological advancements actually make our jobs easier, lives better and leave us more space to enjoy our time on this earth... much like all the other technologies we take for granted nowadays that caused widespread outcry when first introduced. And every time the world didn't implode, it simply adapted.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants
Sir Isaac Newton, 1675
 

Starting with its impact on the economy and job market let's soothe some worries. Considering the rate at which matters are evolving and definitely not slowing down, let's play devil's advocate for a minute and think of what jobs this revolution will create rather than those it'll replace. While the prior is harder to estimate than the latter, countless roles that didn't exist just 10 years ago are now commonplace (World Economic Forum, 2023). Why should it be any different this time around? By boosting productivity and efficiency, automation frees up time and mental space for further development à la Maslow's Hierarchy of needs: a solid base allows growth to occur. On the other hand, is replacing jobs and work functions necessarily a bad thing? If we limit our imagination of workplaces to large companies aiming to reduce costs, then using AI to streamline operations is likely to render many roles redundant. However if we think beyond an economy made of few large corporations to one made of millions if not billions of small businesses, where functions from Marketing to Legal are delegated to AI, then these new technological advancements open up the possibility for many more to work as freelancers. In the foreseeable future, we might encounter once mythical one-person unicorns (Yahoo!Finance, 2024)!

It's not hard to imagine the extent of Gen AI's versatility and applicability to all sectors. An interesting case study is its impact on the arts and entertainment industry. The recent release of DALL-E and Sora, OpenAI's text-to-image and text-to-video generative AI models respectively, has caused some worry as many believe this will produce a large impact on this job market. Who's to say that consumers will necessarily prefer the Gen AI version? After all, live action and animation movies co-exist peacefully even now and everything 'handicraft' and 'authentic' is in high and growing demand (Yahoo!Finance, 2023; Forbes, 2023). If anything, the possibility of creating art at a fraction of the cost means greater independence for artists to breathe life into their ideas and fully own their work without having to rely on investors. Furthermore the lowered financial risk means we'll return to an era of artistic integrity granting greater diversity in what is produced without having to prioritise marketability. We can foresee similar applications of AI also to healthcare and pharma for example from drug discovery to assisted living this technology has the potential of lowering costs ultimately increasing efficiency and accessibility throughout the entire value chain (Nature Medicine, 2023;  World Economic Forum, 2024). And again in contexts such as the agricultural sector to improve crop management and yield (Advanced Agrochem, 2023), the military building better weapons (Financial Times, 2024), and many more.

What about the obscene energetic demands of this technology and its overall impact on climate change? Indeed AI comes at an inflection point in making major progress in environmental goals (tracking icebergs, more efficient recycling, etc.) while also needing more energy than can be possibly provided by contemporary renewables (The Guardian, 2024). Ironically AI could in theory track the direct damage it causes while simultaneously offering solutions to improve its impact. How introspective.

Aided by the symbiotic relationship between market and politics greater economical independence, work freedom and access to resources and facilities is likely to translate into stronger democracies by bridging gaps and inequalities would-be tyrants prey on. At a time where income inequality has accelerated since the pandemic and many important countries are showing big declines in measures of political rights and civil liberties (Financial Times, 2024; World Economic Forum, 2024), technological developments, such as AI or even Crypto and communication technologies, are likely to favour social emancipation... if done correctly. On that note, who's to say that this new technology isn't going to impact the information we access, or are fed, with the specific intent of skewing our view of the world? One could argue that unfortunately everything from the news we consume to our history books are leaden with bias. While ultimately the consumer should be free to use and consume this technology at their own leisure, or peril, unlike previous technological advancements the pace at which GenAI is moving means that now more than ever policy makers must act fast without trampling progress even going as far as setting up dedicated structures and agreements such as the UK's and US' AISI collaboration (Financial Times, 2024).

All things considered, said and done this whole AI thing sounds really good. Perhaps too good. Indeed we must always be weary of potential bubbles, stoically examining whether an idea would still be good without the use of AI and is merely assisted by this technology rather than being entirely based on it (Forbes, 2024).