Editorial
Research Report
Designing AI-First Systems for Customer Access
Editor's Note: This article is part of a four-part series mapping the emerging experiments worldwide that could reshape capitalism and democracy for the AI era. Don't forget to check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
In the previous articles in this series, we explored the challenges the emergence of AI will pose for society and some of the innovation happening around the globe which may furnish us with solutions. We then developed a cube of possible societal end-states, depending on their approaches to economics, governance and information integrity.
In this article, we are going to build on the above by exploring a societal model that may combine the best of the above and consider how we might journey toward it.
Table of Contents
- Markets With a Social Purpose
- What a Virtue Economy Looks Like
- How to a Virtue Economy Work
- Addressing the Privacy Concern
- Policy Roadmap: Enabling Policies for Human-Centered Societies in Era of AI
- How to Implement These New Policies
- It's Time to Reinvent Once More — And It's Urgent
- What Business Leaders Need to Know
Markets With a Social Purpose
To forge a society conducive to human wellbeing and agency in the era of AI, we will need to build upon the foundations of Liberalism. We will explore combining ideas from the multiple experiments described into a new synthesis. This vision draws on the idea of "Markets with a Social Purpose," by creating a two-tier economy: one comprising economic labor and one virtue labor.
The idea is this: Let the AI and robots handle the economic labor, producing the goods and services, generating the wealth, while humans shift increasingly into virtue labor focused on activities that machines can't, or we do not want them to, and which enrich human life and society. These are things like caregiving, learning, artistic creation, mentoring, community leadership, environmental restoration. This is the kind of "work" that traditional markets undervalue because it doesn't yield big profits, yet is incredibly valuable in terms of social well-being.
In the "Markets with a Social Purpose" framework, individuals would be rewarded not for "economic labor" but for "virtue labor."
Think of a parent teaching their child to read, a neighbor helping an elderly person with errands or a citizen organizing a local tree planting. Today, these acts get you at best a thank-you, not a paycheck. In a virtue economy, you could earn credits or income for them, if they can be verified and measured in a fair way.
Related Article: Social Purpose Markets: A Bold Solution for the AI-Driven Job Crisis
What a Virtue Economy Looks Like
For example: a neighborhood park has fallen into disrepair. Rather than waiting for municipal action, wealthy elderly residents create a fund of virtue credits to incentivize young people to restore it.
The system (using privacy-preserving location verification) sends invites only to youngsters within half a mile who've expressed interest in environmentalism. They organize an afternoon cleanup, earn credits redeemable for local goods and services and build community connections. No surveillance state needed; just cryptographic proofs of participation and community validation.
This is where AI and data can be transformational enablers. Personal AI assistants and sensors could help quantify and certify these contributions without infringing privacy. Your private personal AI, by securely accessing your private personal data vault, might confirm that you spent 5 hours this week tutoring underprivileged kids, or that you reduced your carbon footprint by biking to work. These achievements could translate into social purpose credits that have real monetary value or privileges.
We already see prototypes along these lines being developed. The sovereign data store company, Dataswyft, enables the reward of exercise by those at risk of diabetes in South Korea. Local time banks let helping a neighbor earn you “hours” that you can spend on someone else helping you. Carbon credit markets price emissions reduction (a social good) and trade it. The proposal is to extend this to personal action. "Free markets" are repurposed to trade in positive outcomes, where the currency is not just money for widgets, but tokens for verified good deeds.
How to a Virtue Economy Work
To make this work while preserving liberal freedoms, several ingredients we saw earlier must be blended:
- Personal Data Control: People need ownership over their data and the ability to share proofs of their activities without Big Brother. You keep detailed data in an encrypted vault. “Zero-knowledge proofs” (cryptographic methods that prove something without revealing details, like proving you're old enough to enter a bar without showing your birthdate or name) enable verification without surveillance.
- Co-Op Platforms and Data Commons: The tech to run this virtue economy could itself be cooperatively owned or publicly governed. Instead of Facebook gamifying our attention for ad clicks, a civic network could gamify civic virtue.
- AI as Personal Coach: Rather than AI being a centralized overlord, each person could have an AI assistant that helps them achieve self-chosen goals. Crucially, the AI can verify when you hit milestones. You choose which virtue activities matter to you, within some democratic social consensus. You're free to opt out and live modestly on UBI.
- Democratic Goal Setting: Who decides what counts as "virtuous?" This must be democratic, or it becomes tyranny. Digital deliberation tools like Polis or citizens' councils could define the menu of incentivized goals. The key is bottom-up and expert-informed. There isn't one monolithic "score," instead there could be diversity of tokens for different acts.
- Alternative Currency Networks: To make virtue credits spendable, credit networks parallel to fiat currency could be created. Think of Sardex-like systems where credits earned helping seniors can be spent on community services. This could sit upon a basic UBI system to ensure activity is freely chosen, not forced by necessity.
This is a new social model, a Virtue Economy directed by participatory democratic governance embedded in a high integrity information space, which means no one is left without meaningful things to do or means of support. It reframes "work" as any effort that builds personal or societal well-being. By making these markets voluntary and diverse, it respects liberal freedom.
Related Article: Can AI Transcend Our Universe? Training Machines on Alternate Realities
Addressing the Privacy Concern
Critics will rightfully worry that tracking virtue will recreate China's social credit system. This is not the case, and the distinction is critical. Privacy-preserving technologies make verification possible without surveillance. Your personal AI can cryptographically prove activities without revealing details to any authority.
The harder challenge is cultural.
Many stakeholder groups are comfortable with today’s social model and may resist quantifying social contribution. But resistance becomes dangerous when the alternative is mass purposelessness. As one executive noted: "We're great at managing quarterly earnings but terrible at managing societal transitions." This transition isn't optional. Governments that wish to navigate the impending AI disruption must start acting today. Waiting until the social fabric is in crisis will be too late.
So, what could a policy roadmap for the 2020s to early 2030s look like?
Policy Roadmap: Enabling Policies for Human-Centered Societies in Era of AI
Step 1: Encourage Adoption
Firstly, governments need to encourage adoption of self-sovereign personal data stores, data portability and data sharing frameworks. These are foundations of a new information ecosystem controlled by users. Much of the action required is outlined in the EU Data Strategy.
Step 2: Governments Become the Catalyst
Secondly, government needs act as catalyst for the Virtue Economy. Beginning with simple steps like following in the footsteps of New Zealand and incorporating wellbeing metrics into budgeting.
Next, issue social impact bonds for private sector entities achieving societal goals. These are proto-markets for virtue. Consider piloting a national service program: guarantee every young person (18-25) the option to participate in paid community work.
Step 3: Promote Participatory Democracy
Thirdly, promote participatory democracy leveraging digital tools. Initially, ensure every citizen has secure digital identity and can propose ideas. Then introduce deliberation at scale using tools that cluster opinions. This enables an evolution to participatory budgeting and new voting methods.
Critically, and in parallel, invest in civic machinery of democracy. Content provenance systems, authenticity labels and trusted algorithms which should make clear when information was verified and by whom. Major investments in media literacy are also essential.
How to Implement These New Policies
One of the toughest challenges will be funding. There are two main levers which can help:
- Capture savings from efficient data ecosystems
- Tax corporations based on the value of operating in a country, not on reported profits that can be shifted abroad
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Data sharing ecosystems and AI makes such calculations achievable in a way which has not been possible before.
Another tough challenge will be managing the workforce transition. This will need to be done in phases:
- Cushion workers with shorter weeks without cutting pay
- Introduce a minimal UBI alongside virtue economy
To help us navigate these paths, establishing regional Societal Labs to trial and refine policy options is critical; these would be akin to the model villages pioneered by industrialists like Cadbury and Rowntree in the 19th century. This would enable policy makers to see how the component policies interact, and the public to see what their options are for how they wish to live.
It's Time to Reinvent Once More — And It's Urgent
Many studies suggest the 2030s will be crunch time. By the end of that decade, automation could displace nearly half of current jobs. Government needs to set and prioritize clear milestones:
- By 2026, have a national AI task force produce scenarios
- By 2028, have basic income mechanism legislated
- By 2030, have at least one city in each region operating as "Post-AI City" showcase
International cooperation will also help, as these challenges are global.
The urgency is real. AI progresses exponentially; but public policy moves slowly. But we have a window now to make choices to avoid Marketocracy outcomes and empowering individuals. Liberalism has faced down tyrants and revolutions by reinventing itself. Now is the time to reinvent once more, so free markets broaden to encompass markets with social purpose, and democracy becomes participatory with robust information integrity.
We stand between two eras, with the future in our hands. To avoid the Hobbesian nightmare and seize the renaissance of human thriving, we must be proactive. The experiments worldwide, from UBI to deliberative democracy to virtue economies, are liberalism's antibodies against algorithmic autocracy. The monarchs of the tech age need not be left to rule unchecked; the innovators and reformers are already at work. Let's join them, with both humility and boldness, to build an open future where humans and AI creations thrive side by side in service of life, liberty, happiness and the best interests of the people.
Related Article: AI Won’t Adopt Human Morality — It’ll Build Its Own
What Business Leaders Need to Know
For business leaders, this isn't abstract philosophy but urgent strategy. The societal model that emerges will determine everything from your talent pools to your license to operate. Organizations that help build the new models will thrive. The future isn't written; it's coded, governed and funded. What role will you play?
Phase 1: Understand (Next 6 Months)
- Map automation risk in your organization
- Identify dependencies on traditional employment
- Evaluate brand vulnerability to social purpose expectations
Phase 2: Experiment (Next 12 Months)
- Launch employee virtue credit programs
- Test stakeholder governance models
- Partner with cities testing new economic models
Phase 3: Position (Next 24 Months)
- Develop products/services for models like the virtue economy
- Build capabilities for high-transparency operations
- Help shape industry standards for social value
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