• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 8, 2023

Generative AI may turn out to be a piece of hype, a bubble that implodes the stock market or a privacy violation that leads to harsh new laws. But all that aside, it probably will be a positive force, according to Commerce in the age of generative AI, an analysis in Mastercard Signals.  

“Unlike other technologies that have seen hype cycles, generative AI exhibits clear use cases, has led to the creation of robust solutions, and is developing swiftly,” Mastercard writes. 

The analysis continues: “New opportunities will continue to appear. This technology is poised to be transformative across nearly every sector.” That includes large enterprises, small businesses, banking, retail and travel.

Mastercard adds: “Over the next five to seven years, expect widespread integration of generative AI, including specialized solutions for particularly data-sensitive sectors, and for the entities that hold critical data — and excel in securing it — to thrive.”

Case in point: “We may also see bespoke AI applications that use a single personalized AI bot to orchestrate other bots for AI-to-AI commerce, coordinating purchase, delivery and payment with little or no human intervention.” 

Here are five areas that will likely converge: widespread integration, bespoke AI, data differentiators, AI-to-AI interactions, and its staying power.

And here are some key opportunities:

• Businesses could harness machine learning to synthesize great troves of information to provide needed insights.
• Generative AI could support meetings as a “voice” sharing instant input, or offering hyper-nimble management of operations, budgets, and resources. 
• ‘Solopreneurs’ could leverage AI to help with tasks from finance to marketing, serving as a ‘digital CMO’, capable of producing images and text to power marketing campaigns and personalize ads based on individual customer data points.  
• For SMEs lacking skills or resources, AI can offer coding services to build prototypes and translate visions into tangible entities.