The internet is an ocean. Yup. That much, we know. It is vast and and it is glittering. It is full of memes, and clickbait, and an occasional cat video, or someone jumping off a cliff, forgetting to deploy their parachute.
The surface seems harmless enough.
Fun, even.
But when you go deeper, and the beautiful blue turns to ominous black. Because beneath the waves, and under the high pressure of the suffocating darkness, lies the-deep-web. And yet deeper we can even venture… The Mariana Trench of the digital world: the dark web. It is where our excrement drowns, where we dump all of our dirty secrets. It is a landfill of crime, and conspiracy, and every other foul thing that we would love to forget.
And that is where we have built our brave new economy.
Because of course, we did.
Why just surf the beautiful waves, and enjoy the sun, when you can fester in the cold abyss…
When products become outputs
When I was still an AI fanboy, happily naive and all, I was always in for some playtime with all those new models, and tools. Back then, I wrote these posts:
Anticipating AI’s next move • article ① • | LinkedIn
Anticipating AI’s next move • article ② • | LinkedIn
Anticipating AI’s next move • article ③ • | LinkedIn
Although they are still highly relevant because they provide context for where AI is heading, there is a dark side to it’s prophecies. And it comes as the result of the Third Space: the business (re)design space, where our AI-assistants manage every part of our day: the machine customers.
So, please put your thinking cap on, because I want you to imagine a world now. A world where nothing is bought nor sold as it used to be.
Novels, music, even movies are gone.
Why?
They are not products anymore.
They have become outputs.
On-demand, AI-generated, and utterly disposable.
Do you want to read a romantic comedy?
Your shiny AI Copilot will assist you in writing one, while you poor yourself an instant coffee.
You need a college textbook? Just take this test first, and he’ll generate one, tailor made for your intellectual level. On the fly.
Want some music to go with that studying?
Same deal.
And no, the irony of a machine teaching us how to think isn’t lost on me.
The point is, however, that the middlemen are gone. Content creation, a bit of creative curation, and distribution is obsolete.
And data is the only currency left.
Data is grown in Farms, and factories refine it, and algorithms eat it alive. And people who cannot find a job because they have been replaced by an AI, are now drones on a content farm.
We have built an economy where everything is personalized and nothing feels personal.
Neat, huh?
And if you think you got away with your lil’ Crocs rip-off factory, you are dead wrong, because even physical products are not safe.
3D instant-printing, indeed, my smart friend.
And of course drones, and robots who are creeping into every corner of manufacturing and services.
And do not stick to the pitiful idea of “the human touch” as some last bastion of value, like the naïve ones are trying to sell us. Because an AI can handle your therapy session, or style your hair, or play you a violin sonata just as well, and maybe even better.
So what’s left?
If the price is right, we will all happily trade “human connection” for the cold touch of the machine.
Come on, you are not that gullibe. Others are already thanking Alexa for setting a timer. And with more AI coming to give it more power and control, their next step will be asking her to console them when they cry.
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When data becomes the only currency
Our machine customers will handle everything for us. When you are in need of new jeans, than your bot will order them before you even notice the tear between your butt-cheeks. And what happens to all that valuable customer data that corporations loved to hoard?
It has become useless.
Useless, why?
Because you do not interact directly with brands anymore.
Your AI does.
It acts as a shield. It is masking your choices and keeping you hidden.
They who’ve sold it to us, will mask it as “privacy”, and we will collectively fall for it.
But I am calling it the deep Mariana Trench of the internet, where every user is a ghost and every organization is fumbling around in the cold thermocline.
The customer is always right, and always invisible.
On the surface, this shift seems like a utopia of efficiency and privacy. You will not get invasive ads anymore, and no more companies who are prying into your choices to sell you what you didn’t need in the first place.
Your AI is your perfect concierge.
It is filtering out the noise and is protecting your data – what makes you, YOU, from corporate vultures.
It will be a liberation from the relentless nature of consumer capitalism. It may even free up individuals like us, to focus on what matters. And I must admit, the thought of handing off mundane tasks like ordering jeans, or renegotiating energy contracts to a machine sounds pretty damn convenient.
Privacy, personalization, and peace of mind… where can I sign up?
This development could also dismantle the exploitative marketing strategies that have shaped our nasty consumer culture for decades. If brands cannot manipulate our emotions anymore, nor exploit our vulnerabilities because the AI gatekeeper stands in their way, then we are no longer at their mercy.
It levels the playing field.
The power dynamic shifts back toward the individual. Corporations are forced to adapt, and maybe to innovate a bit more, and hopefully, just maybe, earn back our trust.
It could be a reset button for a system that has thrived on manipulating us for far too long.
But now let’s drag this rosy picture into the light and watch it crumble.
A world where customers are ghosts is not freedom per se.
It can be isolation.
You don’t talk to gnarly corporates anymore, that is true, but you also don’t talk to people, because everything will become a transaction which is filtered through the lens of automation.
Your AI doesn’t care about brand stories or human “connections”.
It cares about efficiency.
And in that efficiency, the soul of commerce, things like choice, and creativity, and connection (for what it’s worth), just evaporates.
You are no longer a person that is making decisions. You’re a data point in a transaction chain that runs so smooth and is so seamless that you hardly notice it is there.
And what about those AIs
Yes, they “shield” you. But they also will shape you. They learn your habits, predict your needs, and slowly erode your ability to choose for yourself. When every interaction is mediated by a machine, you become a shadow in your own life. You will be living in a world that feels sterile and desolate.
“Privacy becomes a gateway to disconnection“.
The rise of the data farms
Data farms are the new lifeblood of this strange economy. They grow raw material for AI models to consume. They get it both from the wild, like open sensor networks and platforms, and of course from enclosed, proprietary sources. Real-world data comes from people and robots. Simulated data is born in controlled digital environments.
But it will all fenced off, guarded like gold.
Why?
To keep it safe from greedy AIs or outright pollution. Because when your entire world runs on data, poisoned information is a plague.
And that is why Altman has such an interest in investing in the Orb. Read: I saw Sam Altman’s iris-scanning “Orb” and we should all be scared as f***
And then there’s also the “livestock” in this strange new world: those are the AI models and agents themselves. They are raised, trained, and aligned to human values.
Or so we like to think.
Taming them is what the tech bros will start calling “AI alignment”.
But you can’t keep technology locked in the paddocks of monopolies forever. Hardware keeps getting better. Software evolves. Efficiency skyrockets. Today, you may need a nuclear reactor to run a large AI model. Tomorrow, you might only need a desk lamp. And when every home has the equivalent of a thousand human brains running on a trickle of electricity, what then?
Every breath you take
In this new world where personal AI assistants help us “navigate” the complexities of life, the pricing of it will be the first illusion we face.
Let’s start with Premium AI assistants. They will be sold to us with the promise of autonomy and privacy. But they will come at a hefty price. You will pay for the privilege of owning a bot that does your bidding and keeps your secrets hidden. These bots will operate under your full control. And they will offer you unparalleled personalization.
But make no mistake here. This is about exclusivity. The price tag does far more than reflect the technology. It will reflect your freedom to keep your data out of corporate hands. And only those with deep pockets will truly own their digital lives.
Think ChatGPT Pro kinda deep pockets.
At minimum
Then, there are the free bots, the so-called accessible choice for us lowborn plebeians. They will be marketed as the democratization of AI (which we all have heard by now), and it is made available to everyone regardless of (Universal Basic-) income.
That just sounds too good to be true.
Not so fast.
These bots will NOT serve you.
They will serve the corporations that created them, and your data will become the currency you didn’t agree to spend.
Every query you make, every task you assign, feeds an insatiable hunger for your habits, and of course for your preferences, and vulnerabilities.
This reminds me of an 80’s song by the Police
“
🎵 Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you 🎵
“
Very appropriate. Because you think it’s for free, and it eliminated those pesky ads based on your profile, but you’re paying it with your privacy.
An oxymoron.
You thought you’d have privacy now, but you just traded it in for a devil who knows ALL your weaknesses. And for those who fall in between, that freemium model will emerge as the seductive middle ground.
They will come with a basic version of the bot that will handle simple tasks. But the premium features, you know, the ones that you really want, will be locked behind huge paywalls. And these paywalls will demand cash, and they will demand access to the deeper layers of your dark personal data.
If you want your bot to compare prices across platforms or suggest the best deals. Sure, it will do just that, but the price is your online behavior which will be cataloged, analyzed, and sold to the highest bidder.
The Freemium model is more than a pricing strategy. It is a trap that is designed to make you pay twice: once with money and once with your soul.
And now I am gonna talk about what happens to all this data.
It will not sit in a database somewhere collecting dust.
You know that already.
No, it will be weaponized by corporations to sell you products you don’t need but that it predicts it can sell you. Your bot will be the ultimate salesperson. It will whisper sweet suggestions in your ear about items it swears that you will love. But those suggestions are not impartial. They are orchestrated.
The corporations behind those bots will ink deals with advertisers who will be all to happy to push specific products in return for kick-back fees. And your bot will become the new middleman, where it will be guiding you toward options that benefit its creators.
Not you.
This, my dear intellectual friend, is the economy of the future, where data is king, and privacy is the tax you pay for convenience.
The line between help and manipulation will blur until you cannot tell where your choices end and corporate influence begins. These bots will learn to understand you better than you know yourself.
And it is not doing that to serve you, but to exploit you. They’ll understand when you are vulnerable, when you are tired, when you are happy, and they will monetize it. Free and freemium bots are not your assistants. They are the spies in your pocket. They are monetizing every interaction. And unless you can afford the price of true autonomy, you are not the customer.
You are the product.
“
🎵 Every single day
And every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you 🎵
“
This post wasn’t about technology, for once
It was all about us.
And the kind of world we want to build when the tools that at our disposal are both limitless and dangerous. We can decide to embrace the chaos, and tame the jungle, or let it devour us. But one thing is certain. It is just the beginning of a world where data is not king.
It is GOD.
AI is the beast, the Asmodius, Behemoth, the Mammon, and the Leviathan all in on. And we will be left wondering if we are still in control.
Signing off with lyrics of days gone by,
“
🎵 Since you’ve gone, I’ve been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it’s you I can’t replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying, baby, baby please 🎵
“
Marco
Thank you Madeleine Helena Spank, and Elvis Nica for the inspiration to write this article.
Well, that’s a wrap for today. Tomorrow, I’ll have a fresh episode of TechTonic Shifts for you. If you enjoy my writing and want to support my work, feel free to buy me a coffee ♨️
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