AI tools may soon manipulate people’s online decision-making, say researchers
Study predicts an ‘intention economy’ where companies bid for accurate predictions of human behaviour
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools could be used to manipulate online audiences into making decisions – ranging from what to buy to who to vote for – according to researchers at the University of Cambridge.
The paper highlights an emerging new marketplace for “digital signals of intent” – known as the “intention economy” – where AI assistants understand, forecast and manipulate human intentions and sell that information on to companies who can profit from it.
The intention economy is touted by researchers at Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) as a successor to the attention economy, where social networks keep users hooked on their platforms and serve them adverts.
The intention economy involves AI-savvy tech companies selling what they know about your motivations, from plans for a stay in a hotel to opinions on a political candidate, to the highest bidder.
“For decades, attention has been the currency of the internet,” said Dr Jonnie Penn, an historian of technology at LCFI. “Sharing your attention with social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram drove the online economy.”
He added: “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.