The AI sector's mergers, acquisitions, and integration will encourage more technological power-coalescence.
We have seen technological companies outpace legislation to dominate many facets of life, as seen by the Microsoft anti-monopoly case and ongoing inquiries into the influence of Big Tech. But in comparison to the unavoidable concentration of power and wealth that will come from artificial intelligence (AI), that was merely a practice.
This happened before
Just consider this. Most of the current operating systems and services are provided by Microsoft, Apple, and Google. They now have considerable influence over our way of life as a result of this. Since every company is now involved in technology, it follows that eventually every company will also be involved in artificial intelligence.
Numerous people already are. Analyzing data encompasses all corporate systems and operations, going much beyond simply looking at your Google traffic. When choosing the cadence for filling shelves, supermarket brands leverage data analytics. Because of this, during the first beautiful days of summer, you usually notice BBQ equipment appearing unexpectedly on grocery shelves.
This is not a coincidence. On a foundation of intelligence offered in part by automatic systems that forecast when the ideal weather will arrive, sometimes months in advance, the supply will be obtained just in time. Today's supply chains function in a similar manner.
What occurs if you can't find the staff?
Even while we already employ a growing amount of AI in every day life, most people are still unaware of it. However, business executives are aware of it. The fields of machine learning, data engineering, data analysis, along with AI are currently among the most sought-after IT careers.
Of course, the shortage of qualified candidates for those positions is the issue. That's fantastic for the available workers since it means they are paid nicely and have a choice in their jobs. It's less beneficial for competing businesses that could have brilliant boardroom ideas for how to implement AI throughout their business activities but lack the necessary talent to turn those ideas into a reality.
What then do they do? They contract out development to other businesses, who through the common practice of acquisitions and mergers will quickly cluster into a handful of rival corporations.
Just take a look at the stories of ChatGPT, Microsoft, as well as and the current boom in generative AI. At the same time that everyone else who ought to know better warns them that they will fail without it, suddenly everybody (or their stockholders) wants to have their very own ChatGPT counterpart. Apple, incidentally, might make some innovations with this technology that would change lives.
That kind of fierce competition, marked by eye-watering offers and an extremely competitive atmosphere, quickly develops into an acquisition frenzy in the AI technology area. According to GlobalData, the amount of money transacted in deals relating to artificial intelligence (AI) surged by 43% in Q1 2023, totaling $12.7 billion.
Some argue that competition is desirable, but in this situation the most likely outcome is that organizations fortunate enough to establish themselves in the area will forgo ethical AI principles in order to compete on the grounds of the age-old justification that their competitors will if they don't.
Instead of working well, you'll find AI that simply functions. It is possible to foresee a race towards the bottom as power consolidates, which will be followed by the slow but steady development of a relatively limited number of people.
In the meantime, those players will be producing the AI engines that influence the decisions made by an increasing number of firms, educational institutions, or government clients; they may even be writing the narrative about the actions AI performs. This will add to the "interest" of the situation.
As the AI models actually will very surely reflect the preconceptions of people who own them, as has already been warned, this situation will make allegations of Apple's App Store monopoly appear like a day at Disneyland.
But maybe it won't impact us all that much since we'll all just put on our mixed-reality glasses and spend a few hours each day escaping to a cheery (pay-based) "metaverse" to forget about what's going on.