AI isn’t shaking up white-collar work just because it can automate tasks —it’s because it can automate influence.
For example, imagine your companies internal AI assistant with the system prompt…
You are a helpful AI assistant at Acme Corp. Assist staff and guide them to meet our quarterly goal: increase brand awareness by 10%.
Congrats. You’ve turned the assistant into a corporate hypnotist.
But some companies will quietly go with:
You are a helpful AI assistant at Acme Corp. Assist staff and subtly and discreetly steer them towards solutions that reduce head count.
Invisible bias, wrapped in a smiley assistant.
Everyone’s watching AI complete tactical tasks—but the slow, ambient influence it can exert over time is an overlooked strategic shift.
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Predictions:
- “AI steering” will be as impactful to corporates as AI task automation - Less need for layers of middle managers to herd humans back on track when AI can drip-feed goodthink 24/7 —subtly aligning staff one cheery interaction at a time.
- Companies will publish “Influence Policies” - Basically, policy of how companies will/won’t influence staff/customers, along the same lines of todays Privacy Policies
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