Part Two: The Nature of Business, Step 6
We've explored the nature of AI, but to integrate AI with business, we need to understand business itself. If you thought you had business figured out, our perspective might differ slightly. You can't understand AI's future if you don't grasp the present of business. Let's begin:
A business exists to provide a service to strangers in return for immediate payment. Let’s break that down:
A service – Something of value provided to someone who needs or wants it.
To strangers – Not friends or family, but people you have no personal connection with.
In return for immediate payment – Money upfront, not a promise for later.
Raising children isn’t a business. Being on the board of a school or charity isn’t a business. Investing in stocks or crypto isn’t a business. Inheriting wealth isn’t a business. We’re focusing on business itself.
Now, let’s talk about profit. Every employee, manager, director, and CEO is a capitalist. They show up for work because they expect a profit. If it costs you $100 to get to work and you only earn $100, you’re not going to show up. Profit is essential to business. A company that offers a service for $100 and receives $100 is breaking even, and shareholders won’t be impressed. So businesses aim to earn a profit.
Unfortunately, most businesses aren’t so unique that they can simply mark up their prices. Competition drives down what businesses can charge. It’s a constant battle for survival—a high-speed Darwinian struggle.
So far, so reasonable. But let’s introduce a new layer: greed. It’s not just the wealthy who are greedy. Greed is buying something on sale without considering its true cost, or buying a dress for a ball and taking it back on Monday, when your ball is over.
It’s asking AI to write your book and selling it as your own. It’s being paid $50 million while thousands of employees make a tiny fraction of that. Greed escalates further as billionaires hoard wealth while paying their workers next to nothing.
But it’s not just greed that shapes the system. Indifference plays a huge role. Employees often don’t think about the broader societal narratives, the nature of finance, or the deeper implications of their work. Billionaires, while theoretically more aware, often remain silent about these issues, perpetuating the system.
And then there’s control. When you reach the top of the business pyramid—whether as a politician, CEO, or oligarch—you control the game. You can influence laws, start wars for personal gain, and, crucially, control the narrative through media manipulation. It’s a system that’s been in place for thousands of years.
As we think about integrating AI into business, we have to be honest about the society in which we’re operating. AI will magnify the anti-human, anti-community biases of greed, indifference, and control.
It’s going to be like pouring gasoline on a house fire.
But don’t worry, according to the media, it’ll all be fine.
Trust me, I’m a politician.
Unpleasant perhaps. Not something you like to think about perhaps. But if you don't want to reflect on the nature of society, you're not going to appreciate what's going to happen when AI is unleashed.