In August 2017, Elon Musk Tweeted that artificial intelligence poses vastly more risk than the nuclear capabilities of North Korea. While that may seem alarmist, the general public are also apprehensive about AI; 42% of Americans don’t trust it and 40% of Britons believe humanoid bots could eventually destroy humanity. On a more practical level, although 45% of retailers in the US are planning to harness AI within the next three years, Americans say they find using AI chatbots frustrating. Three in ten say they don’t trust text bots to assist them with anything.

People are nervous about emerging technologies, yet 63% of people don’t realise they already using AI every day. Canvas8 spoke with Alex Salkever, co-author of The Driver in the Driverless Car and VP of communications at Mozilla, to understand how we can rethink AI's presence in our lives.

Research on 'check-out free' technology reveals almost half of Britons are not comfortable scanning and paying items on their phone without stopping by the till. As mistrust of mobile technology is a barrier for older people, companies would do well to phase in the tech slowly to build consumer confidence.

Speed and convenience have become the consumer norm. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when people worldwide were introduced to instant access to goods and services via apps and digital platforms, the supply and demand considerably grew and splintered. The 'I need it now' culture shows no signs of slowing down, yet the complexity around it is becoming more apparent. Hyper-fast digital services appeal because they fulfil a ballooning desire for instant gratification – contemporary convenience hinges on easy-to-use interfaces that help consumers seamlessly meet their needs. However, the mechanics of consumerism are complex. People are becoming aware of global supply chains, especially in the wake of wars and escalating global conflict. As many brands are cracking down on immediacy (introducing higher delivery fees or offering it as a premium), people are turning to local and smaller-scale shopping for more mindful, slower, grounded spending. The cost of living crisis makes people reconsider which of their needs are truly immediate, but it's not the only reason some crave a slowdown. The hyper-fast society enables our desires to be fulfilled instantly but might be too fast for our mental health. While convenience used to be a cool thing to have, now it has become essential to function in the current attention economy. People are tormented by a lack of patience and chronic dependency on stimulation from platforms like TikTok – yet the rewards of convenience easily outweigh the concerns.