Angels or demons: Future Artificial Companions
By: Marcus Bergh
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Future, Digital Assistant

This piece is about exploring how we will use programable tools for personal power and success previously unheard of. I think it’s pretty fascinating stuff. Imagine soon being able to have your own small team of super-hero AI agents adapted to your liking and benefit. That’s more than kings and emperors have ever had at any time in history.

What will that do to us, to our character and our possibilities? How will we use that power?

As for me, I would like a super-persistent digital version of Ari Gold (Entourage TV series) to take care of all my gigs, and my own pleasant, professional version of Pepper Pots (Iron Man movie) to keep track of me, my family and all the things I need to keep track of. Our future digital helpers will all require different mindsets, different personalities.

Kings and emperors might have been able to choose, to educate and train their agents. But ultimately, they have always been a person with a past, with feelings and aspirations of their own. We will not have to deal with that here.

They will come with no feelings, no past and no plans of their own (let us hope), thus we will be able to design them from nothingness to perfection.

This is an interesting opportunity, and a creative challenge. Where do we start? What will be their guidelines? What personality should we give them?

I would like my Assistant to notice when I am awake, to usher me and prepare me for the day. To access the other assistants including my children’s personal Tutor. Keeping track of me, my calendar, what is happening in the world, what the weather is like, if there is a malfuncion I need to deal with, an accident on the road ahead, the whereabouts of the kids during the day and when it is time to go pick them up. She (or he if that’s your thing) is always by my side.

Providing security, stability and tranquility is a task for a pleasant personality. I would not choose my Ari Gold for that; there are other tasks for him. Like alerting me on who I need to connect with and what actions to take professionally. Obviously, Pepper talks to Ari at all times and most of the time without my knowledge. My agent knows me by heart and is constantly challenging me to step out of my comfort zone. That’s how he is programmed. Knowing me and all my limitations is key to his success and that is the hardest thing to code for: what truly serves me and what to avoid in the flow, how to trick me into being the best version of myself and not just take the easy way.

Taking care of cash-flow and professional development is a complex and crucial task. My agent needs to be ruthless both to me and my employers.

My digital team might also include a personal Trainer. There will be no limit to their ambitions for me, but as a human I need to rest, eat, and have a walk every now and then. They will all ensure I will get the feedback I need to feel accomplished at the end of the day, regardless of how I spend my time. They are always with me but I can choose when to respond, and how to connect. I can choose what kind of knowledge I let them have. Some things are best kept private.

My assistant is only visible when needed and has to double as my avatar, my proxy, my guardian and life companion. She will need a slightly harsh personality to ensure I will not have emotional attachments. I don’t want to fall in love with her (like that dude in the movie Her). That’s just tragic.

The experts providing my digital helpers are making huge profits on people like me, who are very specific about what and who they want to hire. But I have a stake in the company so adding to their smartness and usefulness is to my best interest in several aspects. Making a good match and tracking usability is crucial, so they will collect every little conversation between us.

We have a deal, me and the makers. I may choose another team of developers or leave the platform, migrating my data. Having this kind of power-team will never be cheap, but at least I get to decide on my own profile. And my team is a lot cheaper than hiring real persons. I have copyright of my personal agents so if someone would like to replicate the profiles of my team, they would have to make a deal with me. After all, it’s hard work training them to do really well and there will always be others who are willing to pay for the right skillsets.

Since there will be so many foreseeable versions of digital assistants, trainers and various other forms of agents we could think of, we also need flexibility in programming and training them how to behave, how to look and feel.

Developing the raw material from our instructions, from our data to make these super-efficient assistants is a task for Big Business. That’s why it is not likely we will be able to buy the raw material ourselves and start sculpting like a Michelangelo with a keyboard. Big Business will have better tools and they are going to crave your data in exchange for a kick-ass AI. They who are willing to provide the most data, put in the most work and pay the most are the ones who will have the most success in life. In that aspect, things won’t be so much different from today. Money will talk, also in the digital future.

Is it far-fetched to think that the early versions of digital helpers will be based on human profiles? Will there be copyright from copying the personality of a movie character? Most likely so. That’s another area where Big Business will own the future. Following from there, we will see countless upgrades and tweaks so that the Aris and the Peppers will be even better than the real thing. There will be movies and stories with strong personalities in the future too, so it should be no surprise if AI Business is related to Entertainment Business.

Our cloud-based companions will be able to control all things around them just by sending a command. Software and the Internet of All Things Imaginable will eliminate the need for androids taking physical shape. That area will probably be more interesting for medical robots, pets and toys.

Having constant access to a team of digital superhelpers will give us godlike powers. Just say the word or move your hand, and marvelous things will happen. Things that may be of benefit to you, not necessarily to others.

Are we ready for that? Or will we be like children driving a Ferrari? Already we have so many powerful tools at our fingertips and we can access almost any knowledge, almost anyone and anything anywhere with no effort. And we could do so much more with that power already, but we know not what to do.