Immediacy: The Power and Danger of AI

Imagine post offices trying to distribute information as fast and globally as social media. The very idea highlights just how far communication technology has come—from the measured pace of postal services to the instant global connectivity of social media. And now, with artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront, more areas of our lives are becoming increasingly immediate. 

Each technological shift has been met with both excitement and hype about the promises and pitfalls ahead. But few could have anticipated the scale of the changes we’re experiencing today, as Bill Gates remarked:

His words capture the urgency and challenge of understanding AI’s lasting impact on society. Today, we’ll explore how AI is reshaping our world in real time, focusing on the demand for immediacy—a requirement that now drives nearly every interaction.

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Today’s AI-driven, always-on world owes its existence to a plethora of social and technological advances. Here, we will focus on two pivotal moments that redefined our relationship with information and technology. 

First, Claude Shannon’s Information Theory laid the mathematical foundation for data processing and communication, making it possible to quantify, transmit, and ultimately “teach” machines. This revolutionary concept enabled the flow of information between humans and machines.

Decades later, the launch of the iPhone in 2007, as most of us have experienced, transformed everyday reality, creating an expectation for instant global connectivity and real-time interaction.

These milestones, though separated by half a century, catalysed a shift toward a world where data is always flowing, machine learning thrives, and connected devices are available at our fingertips 24/7 to give us immediate responses.

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Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing industries by delivering real-time insights that drive faster, data-driven decisions. In sectors like healthcare, finance, and customer service, AI enables immediate responses based on data—a crucial capability in today’s fast-paced world. Let’s look at some examples of how AI’s role in real-time data analysis is reshaping specific fields:

• Healthcare: The recent announcement of Copilot for medical staff demonstrates how AI assists doctors and nurses, providing instant recommendations and insights during patient interactions. This tool empowers healthcare providers to make faster, more informed decisions, improving patient outcomes.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): With tools like Salesforce AI agents, customer service representatives can now handle inquiries, predict customer needs, and offer tailored solutions in real time. AI-driven CRMs enhance customer experiences by delivering personalized responses and building loyalty through data-driven interactions.
• Agriculture: Companies like Oishii are pioneering AI-driven farming methods to optimize crop yields. By using data on soil conditions, weather, and crop health, AI allows farmers to make precise, immediate adjustments that maximize productivity and can operate independently of weather conditions.

These are examples of how AI, in its many forms—such as machine learning and natural language processing—is empowering us, enabling instant insights that drive efficiency and growth regardless of sectors of company sizes.

Furthermore, today’s access to this superpower is unbelievably democratised, which means businesses, academia, and families all have to be able to adapt to thrive. As Peter Drucker aptly noted:

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As we look forward, there are many possible paths forward, but one area accelerating rapidly is AI agents. Since the beginning of October a lot of the names we all know, have been announcing Agents. We’ve talked about Salesforce, there is Anthropic Computer Use, and Microsoft Copilot Agents, to name a few.

OpenAI’s vision for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) outlines five steps that could redefine human-AI collaboration and our technological landscape: Conversational, Reasoning, Autonomous, Innovating and Organisational. We all know the Conversational and probably have tested the Reasoning, with the new OpenAI o1 family. And now,  just a few weeks later, autonomous agents are making their way forward.

The impact these agents could have on our workforce is tremendous. To illustrate this I will recover the initial statement of this post: imagine post offices trying to compete with social media in today’s world. That’s how much faster these models can search, code, write, or summarise than we humans. And at a fraction of the cost.

This brings us to the essential ethical considerations. From workforce impacts to privacy concerns and family live, ethical AI implementation will shape how society benefits – or hinders-  from these technologies. Businesses must consider transparency and accountability in their AI models to gain public trust and ensure responsible usage; Academia must reinvent itself to teach how to leverage instead of competing with AI; and we, parents and grandparents, must raise the next generation to deal with issues we, our selves, are struggling to grasp.

It is also important to consider how early we are in this journey, the tools we have access to are orders of magnitude shy of the full potential of AI, As Peter Chapman highlighted on Jordan Wilson’s podcast (link here), we’re in the early stages of AI’s journey. Quantum computing may hold the key to unleashing AI’s full potential with far less energy.

At WalkerTrust we are committed to helping companies steer this exciting future, sustainably. Building, from the ground up, sound data governance and reliable strategic safeguards focusing on business, social, and environmental benefits.

By staying on the cutting edge of digital transformation and AI advancements, WalkerTrust ensures that clients are prepared to harness the full potential of these emerging technologies responsibly. As Eric Hoffer said: