What Happens When Target Becomes Sentient?

Not to get too dystopian on you, but have you ever thought about what it might look like when a corporation’s board of executives is replaced by AI? What happens when all the data and information in a company like Target becomes unified, organized, and self-aware? Legally, that shouldn’t be an issue because corporations aren’t people. Oh wait, they are. You can thank our Supreme Court for their 2010 ruling on Citizens United.

Yes, I understand corporate personhood makes it easier to prosecute them (something that doesn’t happen enough), but an unexpected consequence is that in the next decade we could realistically see a corporation become so integrated with AI that it essentially becomes a sentient being, with the ability to adjust data, payroll, marketing, prices, shipping, etc. instantly in real time.

You may roll your eyes and think that this is something out of a Tubi sci-fi B-movie, and I don’t disagree, but at the same time this could very likely become a reality with the rapid growth of AI (the more consumers use it, the more data centers they’ll build to meet the demand).

Rather than a CEO, CFO, and President making decisions and planning long-term strategies, “Spot” could run all of Target. “Wendy” manages all of her fast-food franchises. “Wal” decides which rural supermarket to close down and relocate. And “Nestlé” (couldn’t think of a clever AI name) decides the next poor, remote village to steal water from all on its own.

Ironically, the only factor I can think stopping this is human greed. How can our starving corporate executives keep their hands on profits? They’d have to give up their positions for their new AI boss and simply become shareholders to still have of piece of the fiscal pie, but could they stomach losing all that control?

That is the question that rings true for many of us on the ground floor. The low-level, easily automated jobs will be taken first (see cashiers, servers, and freelance content writers), but what is going to happen when executives, high-level managers, and all those used to power find themselves being forced out of their positions by “Spot” or “Wendy”? That is when we might finally see some pushback from the wealthy.

That said, the benevolence and common sense of the elites and politicians is not something I’ll ever rely on, nor should you, so really the only choice we have is to use our voice and use these products less. ChatGPT is only going to keep building more data centers and investing in research if the market is viable and consumers are using it. The only way to slow or redirect this train is to stop making it profitable. So while it is easy to feel powerless, as a collective the common man still decides how this all plays out.