‘AI, an exceptional case in the history of disruption’

Since the release of the conversational AI service ChatGPT last November, the world has remained in bewilderment due to what seems to be the omnipotent AI technology. Employees fear losing their jobs to the technology while CEOs ponder how to respond to the AI emergence so as not to be left behind.

Although AI already demonstrated its capabilities by defeating a South Korean Go master in 2016, but many still believed that the software might have certain limits and its impact would be restricted. However, the conversational AI program appears to prove otherwise.

The number of monthly active users for ChatGPT skyrocketed, reaching 1 million in just five days after the program’s launch, and crossed the milestone of 100 million subscribers in just two months. It outpaced popular messaging and social media applications, including Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.

One noteworthy aspect of the current AI hype is that it does not follow the conventional pattern of how new technology is adopted by consumers, according to Thales Teixeira, an author and the co-founder of digital disruption consultancy Decoupling.co.

“What is likely to happen is the AI technology, not people’s changing needs and wants, will drive changes in behavior. So, I would say that it's an exceptional case of technology driving disruption,” the author of the book ‘Unlocking the Customer Value Chain,’ told The Spill in a recent interview.

The interview took place after his presentation on June 28 as a sideline event of The Wave conference for AI, metaverse, and Web 3.0 at the COEX exhibition center in Seoul. The event was co-hosted with Udemy, an e-learning platform.

The former Harvard Business School professor stated that, except for Tesla and Google in its early stages, most successful startups usually do not rely on disruptive technology but rather on their ability to understand customers' changing needs and create a business model around them.

Uber, for example, handled the car-hailing process manually in its early days. Uber employees would receive calls from customers, coordinate with car companies to dispatch a vehicle to the customers' location, and provide updates to customers regarding the whereabouts of their car. The technology itself was not disruptive at all. However, the company successfully met the needs of customers who desired to track the locations of the cars.

He also mentioned large companies, like Airbnb, Facebook, and Filpkart, also did not start out as amazing, innovative and beautiful websites, but they were very simple and basic ones.

It is expected that many businesses, both big and small, will face a serious challenge due to AI, but the one that survive will figure out simple ways to use the technology not to do too many things, but to enhance what they are already good at, according to Teixeira.

He further expected that even established tech giants, including companies like Google, will likely face challenges stemming from new generative AI-based services.

“Google will try their hardest and they’ll go down fighting. But now, it’s Google against thousands of other companies that are creating their own tools, and the chance that Google will keep dominating this new sector is probably less than 50%,” he said.

“We know that as new technologies come, the old incumbents tend to not be the dominant company in the new ones. So, the history is against Google on this one, and they will have to prove themselves really hard,” he added.

Who is Thales Teixeira?

Thales Teixeira is the co-founder of digital disruption consultancy Decoupling.co. He is well-known for his book, “Unlocking the Customer Value Chain,” in which he emphasizes the importance of understanding and leveraging the customer value chain in today's digital landscape. In the book, he provides insights and strategies for companies to better engage with customers, deliver personalized experiences, and build long-term customer relationships.