AI Power Articles and Reports

Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern Mutual@1x-min

Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual is an insurance and financial planning firm operating in the USA. The company reported nearly $35 billion in revenue and a surplus of over $37 billion in 2022. It also surpassed five million clients across its product lines, including life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities, and wealth management. 

Substrate Monopoly@2x

Substrate Monopoly: Control and Power in a Virtual-First World

In previous Emerj articles in the AI Power series, we've taken a hard look at AI's increasing influence both in the macrocosm of our global politics and, more intimately, where it stands to hijack human reward systems through essentially the same forces that drove the ascent of the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

001 – Artificial Intimacy – The Impact of AI-Generated Pornography-min

Artificial Intimacy: How AI-Generated Pornography is Changing Society

The internet is really, really great
For porn-
I've got a fast connection, so I don't have to wait
For porn-
There's always some new site,
For porn!
I browse all day and night,
For porn!
It's like I'm surfing at the speed of light,
For porn!

How AI is Changing Cybersecurity in Banking 1@2x-min

Generative AI and Human Reward Systems

Many of today's most popular digital products — from video games to social media and beyond — owe their popularity (and profitability) directly to their addictive potential. 

China’s Advantages in the Metaverse 950×540 (1)

China’s Metaverse Advantages: How the West Could Lose its Digital Supremacy

When Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 for over a billion dollars, it was an investment ahead of its time. For years virtual reality remained an interesting novelty and little more.

You Don't Want What You Think You Want

You Don’t Want What You Think You Want – AI and Procedurally Generated Worlds

You don’t want the brand new shiny red sports car. 

Or that all-inclusive resort vacation to Hawaii.

The Impending AI Ecosystem for Productivity Augmentation

Ambitious AI – The Impending AI Ecosystem for Productivity Augmentation

About AI Power: AI Power is an article series focused on the long-term consequences of AI, and how power is or will be influenced by AI technologies. Some previous AI Power articles - including "The SDGs of Strong AI" and "AI Ethics at War" have been popular over the years - but I've taken a hiatus from writing AI Power articles but suspect that I'll be creating more in 2022. I'm grateful to my friends for helping to put this first piece together - I hope you enjoy it. - Daniel Faggella

The SDGs of Strong Artificial Intelligence

The SDGs of Strong Artificial Intelligence

While it is difficult for people to agree on a vision of utopia, it is relatively easy to agree on what a “better world” might look like.
The United Nations “Sustainable Development Goals," for example, are an important set of agreed-upon global priorities in the near-term: