Authenticity Economy

by Olga Afanasjeva, Advisor, GoodAI

As humans leave jobs to AI (in the future, arguably all jobs could be done better and more efficiently by AI and robots), I think of a resilient economic niche I’d like to call the Authenticity Economy.

In the Authenticity Economy, people seek out things and experiences because of a story, a meaning, a human connection, and an identity they believe in and want to associate themselves with – not because of what exactly a product does or how well it performs. In the age of AI, we humans will be questioning authenticity and seeking to affirm our role in the world more and more. The part of the economy that helps us find it will thrive.

Ironically, AI itself might be the greatest product in the Authenticity Economy, a double-edged sword at its best. It removes barriers and gives us tools at our fingertips: never in history has it been as easy, fast, and cheap to bring an idea to life. At the same time, we’re swamped with low-quality, copycat content, where the true and the unique are harder to find.

An Authenticity Economy product isn’t just about the product itself being authentic. It’s about creating space, time, and conditions for a person to be their authentic self: to grow, to make an impact, a contribution, to feel valuable and have a purpose – whatever it may be.

And it’s about the priceless human connection. You would want a product because of a specific person who offers it, who has something to say, perhaps inspires you or simply puts a smile on your face and makes you feel at home. It will become very easy to avoid human interaction altogether because we’ll have robots. So if people choose to interact with one another in the day-to-day economy, it would really need to be for a good reason.

So here’s a motivation for us humans to be better people, kinder to one another. In other words, if I want to stay relevant in the future society, I ask myself: would I want to spend time with someone like me, not because I’ve got something someone needs, but purely because of my character?