• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, 2 hours ago

Not many advertising execs talked about AI when Mo Gawdat, futurologist and former chief business officer for Google X, wrote his book “Scary Smart” in 2020 and published it in 2021. It’s one of several books he has written in the past few years.

At the time there were things people could do to change the course of the technology. But now, Gawdat believes the world will “hit a short-term dystopia,” he said in a video interview with The Diary Of A CEO. “And there’s no escaping that," Gawdat said.

He described “dystopia” as “adverse circumstances” in life that may escalate beyond “our control, adding: "There is a lot wrote with the value set, the ethics of humanity at the age of the rise of the machines.”

AI has changed advertising by improving ad targeting, optimizing delivery, automating tasks and personalizing content, but Gawdat believes AI will magnify the evil that humans are capable of.

From AI-generated deepfakes, lies and pornography to a path into warfare, the technology has been a driver of the worst kinds of thoughts that humanity offers.

Time magazine reported in July that a woman named Evie told USA Today her selfies had been turned into explicit sexual images by others using the Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok.

Then Musk’s xAI announced a new feature for its AI chatbot Grok that would allow users to generate 6-second video clips. The feature, called Imagine, creates videos with sound from user prompts, according to an X post.

Before the content was deleted, a thread labeled as adult content from xAI employee Mati Roy — shared by Musk — highlighted examples of videos generated by the Grok update, including a robot, an “alien tribal woman,” and more.

Grok Imagine has four style options for video generation: Normal, Fun, Custom, and a controversial Spicy mode. Musk has touted Grok Imagine as being faster and more entertaining than competing services.

One of those competing services comes from Google Photos, a cloud-based media storage app that includes a Photo to video feature powered by Veo 2 AI.

The photos are selected from a gallery and prompts like "Subtle movements" or "I'm feeling lucky" and will animate the still photos into 6-second clips. The difference is that we have not heard of pornographic images from Google's product.

Gawdat provided examples of how the world could emerge from the dystopia into utopia, which he described as an ideal place where people live in good health and happiness.

“It is completely within our hands to change that, but I have to say, I don’t think humanity has the awareness at this time to focus on this,” Gawdat said.

This dystopia Gawdat describes is not far off, and the world has already begun to see signs of it. Gawdat’s dystopia is predicted to begin in 2027 after showing signs in 2026, and will last for the next 12 to 15 years.

“The stupidity of humans is working against us,” he said.

The former Google executive did not always have this opinion. The speed at which artificial intelligence technologies developed, and the negative geopolitical environment worldwide convinced him this short-term dystopia is inevitable. AI acts as to magnify existing societal issues.

The disconnect between intended consequences and the reality of the negative downsides has echoed in other technological advancements as well.

“How often did social media connect us and how often did it make us more lonely? How often did mobile phones make us work less? That was the promise, the early ads of Nokia, where people had parties -- is that your experience of mobile phones?” Gawdat said.

The survival of digital ads in a scenario where AI significantly changes society would largely depend on the specific effects of those disruptions. Possible challenges include privacy issues, algorithmic bias, reduced authenticity, potential declines in trust and transparency, and changes in consumer demand for various products and services.

AI excels at processing large datasets to detect patterns and understand consumer behavior. In such an environment, if economic activity and communication persist, automation within advertising—such as budget allocation and fraud detection—could increase efficiency and decrease the need for resources.