Mon Dec 30 12:32:12 UTC 2024: ## Cambridge Researchers Warn of Dystopian AI Future: Your Intentions, Up for Auction
**Cambridge, UK** – Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to usher in a new era of manipulation, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. Their study introduces the concept of an “intention economy,” where AI will predict and influence human decisions for profit, moving beyond the current attention economy dominated by targeted advertising.
Using powerful language models like those powering ChatGPT and Gemini, AI tools will analyze vast amounts of personal data – including conversational nuances – to anticipate user intentions. This data, gathered through seemingly innocuous interactions with AI assistants and chatbots, will be used to steer users toward specific products or actions.
The researchers point to Meta’s Cicero AI, which mastered the complex game of Diplomacy, as an example of AI’s growing ability to infer and manipulate human intentions. This capability translates directly to online commerce and potentially, political influence.
The most concerning aspect, the study claims, is the potential for companies to auction off users’ predicted intentions to advertisers. This would allow companies to buy the right to influence consumer choices, creating a new level of personalized manipulation.
Dr. Yaqub Chaudhary of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence highlighted the intimate nature of the data collected, far exceeding the information gathered through typical online interactions. He stressed the need to question whose interests these AI assistants ultimately serve.
The study’s findings have sparked widespread concern online, with users expressing anxieties about the personal information they share with AI chatbots. The researchers urge immediate consideration of these implications and the development of safeguards to protect users from exploitation in this emerging “intention economy.”
First Piper 