Artificial Intelligence is Fintech.
I’ve been saying this for a while now: artificial intelligence is financial technology. I’ve also acknowledged that there’s a lot to unpack here, and I’ve been meaning to write more about this to break my thoughts down further so people can fully grasp the scope of what I mean when I say that artificial intelligence is financial technology.
I originally began thinking about this as I attempted to compute and forecast various economic models related to the possibilities of a global economy with artificial intelligence in full deployment. Unfortunately, my conclusion then—and still now—is that the math simply doesn’t add up in a world with such advanced automation capabilities. We’re not just talking about automation at a scale humanity has never experienced before, but real-time automation. What I mean—let me give an example—is a world where everything is automatically customizable and personalized in real time. This will apply not just to digital products and services but also to physical goods, like a custom cup or a personalized massage, as well as intangible services such as marketing.
The mistake in much of our thinking is the assumption that such automation will simply reduce costs, leading to more profit. However, even massive advancements in automation will have unintended, detrimental consequences for the global economy. Consider all the service providers who will be removed from the process in order to enable this level of automation—particularly real-time personalization. Much of this work is something humans simply cannot do at scale. And the concept of scale itself becomes a fallacy for many product categories when personalization is factored in.
As artificial intelligence reaches its full potential, I will be able to produce almost anything from scratch from the comfort of my own home—including that burger, those artisanal wood-fired pizzas, or even a perfect replica of an obscure vintage bottle of wine. Science is remarkable, but it also has its limits.
The best way I’ve heard this mathematical problem explained is through the example of a fast food restaurant. Today, you can walk into one and pay $10 for a meal prepared by an army of minimum-wage workers. In the future, that same meal will be prepared entirely by automated systems, yet corporations will struggle to justify a $20 price tag when there are no human workers to account for in the cost. Sure, with great marketing, you can sell anything—but without income, who is actually buying these overpriced robot-made burgers?
This same example highlights how artificial intelligence serves as the financial backbone of such systems. From an altruistic standpoint, a corporation could theoretically choose to develop these systems for the public good, since they will be capable of producing nearly anything at minimal or even zero cost. The cost of the system itself could become a sunk cost for the benefit of the public.
I’ll be writing more about this in the coming days and months because, when you truly consider the depth of automation that will be possible due to the intelligence of these systems, it becomes clear that humanity will have to grapple with the fact that we have completely outgrown and innovated beyond traditional economics. Dare I say it? Artificial intelligence is economics. It’s quite literally the next evolution of economics.
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