This morning my daughter and I wondered whether British monarchs could choose the name they reign under. We asked Alexa and ended up talking about Prince Albert, who became George VI. From there we somehow got to King Arthur and Excalibur. My daughter had seen pictures of the sword but had never read the story, so we asked Alexa about that too.
She knew just enough to take the conversation somewhere else. A picture of a sword had stuck in her head. The moment we started talking about kings, that little bit of knowledge gave her something to ask about. I think we skip over that bit when we talk about children growing up with AI. If an answer is always within reach, it’s tempting to think they’ll need to know less. But you need to know a bit about the world before you can spot what’s missing, or notice when an answer sounds a little too neat.
I can see advertising going the same way. The platforms can already make versions of an ad. I suspect more of the day-to-day work will happen there, from making the video to working out which version to show and when. We’ll be able to test six ways of telling people a sofa is 20% off before anyone thinks to ask if they’re worried it won’t fit through the front door.
That question is easier to come by if you’ve spent time on a shop floor and heard what people ask just before they walk away. It also changes what you make. You might put a tape measure in the ad and show people how to check. The platform can work out who to show it to. Someone still has to think of the front door.
I’d like my daughter to grow up reading the stories as well as asking Alexa about them. You never know which picture of a sword you’ll be glad to have in your head years later.