What is living intelligence, the new frontier in AI?

Artificial intelligence has been taking center stage in the tech world, but it is not the only technology businesses need to prepare for. In the future, AI will combine with other advancing technologies to create a new wave of personalized AI capable of anticipating users' actions and evolving independently, predicted Amy Webb, a futurist and NYU Stern School of Business professor. The phenomenon, called "living intelligence," could be the next big thing.

What is living intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is "just one of three groundbreaking technologies shifting the business landscape," Webb said at the Harvard Business Review. Advanced sensors and biotechnology, the other two, are "less visible, though no less important" and have been "quietly advancing." In the future, the convergence of these three technologies will "underpin a new reality that will shape the future decisions of every leader across industries." She dubbed that new reality "living intelligence," or "systems that can sense, learn, adapt, and evolve," made possible through the mix of all three technologies.

The formation of living intelligence could "drive a supercycle of exponential growth and disruption across multiple industries," said Inc. "Some companies are going to miss this," Webb said to the outlet. Laser focus on AI will lead them to "find out that they are disrupted again earlier than they thought they would." AI is "the foundation" and "everything engine" that will power the living intelligence technology supercycle, Webb said in a new report published by her Future Today Institute. The exponential costs of training large language models are driving the creation of smaller models that use less data. Providing this data will lead to a "Cambrian Explosion" of advanced sensors, the report said. Webb anticipates that personalized data from wearable sensors will lead to the creation of personalized AI that predicts actions rather than words.

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Bioengineering, the third tech shaping the supercycle, has futuristic possible applications, including "computers made of organic tissue, such as brain cells," Inc. said. This "organoid intelligence" might "sound like science fiction," but there are "already examples of AI revolutionizing various scientific fields."

Why is it a game-changer for tech?

For business owners, "living intelligence offers unprecedented opportunities," said futurist Mark van Rijmenam at The Digital Speaker. Retailers could use predictive AI to "forecast demand with remarkable accuracy using emotion recognition and real-time sentiment analysis." Health data from sensors could "revolutionize how companies tailor products and services, moving from reactive to proactive healthcare." And despite being a seemingly distant factor, bioengineered solutions could "streamline supply chains and create new materials that outpace traditional processes." Living intelligence is a "paradigm shift that will redefine success in every industry" as it "challenges companies to innovate responsibly, balancing technological potential with ethical responsibility."

Although living intelligence may seem futuristic, "forward-thinking CEOs and business leaders cannot afford to wait," Webb said at the Harvard Business Review. There are already signs of "convergence in living intelligence technologies across several leading-edge industries." Early adoption is most visible in industries like "pharmaceuticals, medical products, health care, space, construction and engineering, consumer packaged goods, and agriculture." However, applications are coming to other industries soon. Businesses must resist the urge to fixate on AI, take a more "holistic view of the change already underway," and "prepare your organization for the era of living intelligence."