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Generative AI is a game-changer. We all know that, but for some entrepreneurially-minded individuals, it might not only improve productivity but enable things previously beyond reach. As an example, let’s talk about people who don’t know how to code but want to build apps or create other IT solutions. For example, my father still cannot believe, how this technology allows people to turn purely verbal ideas into functioning software without any coding skills. Personally, I’ve always thought you have to have a few years of coding experience, or be a BIM student :), to create a mobile app, but it turns out that GenAI can do miracles in this area.

The most exciting part of this is the low-code/no-code development potential. Platforms like Bubble let you build apps completely visually or using a text prompt. That way you can go from idea to execution in seconds, rather than weeks of code learning. On top of that, GenAI can suggest code snippets, fix bugs, or even optimize your app for performance.

So what’s essentially going on is that GenAI is lowering the entry barriers to the app development market. It’s democratizing software development in a way we haven’t seen before. This will likely lead to a decrease in the compensation of professional app developers, as more competition enters the market. However, such a shift towards a more competitive market usually brings substantial collective benefits to market participants. In this case, especially, I think that most of the retrieved DWL will be allocated to the consumer surplus. We might observe it in more consumers having access to a wider variety of better-tailored apps.

Fortunately (for professional app devs), as with other AI tools, it seems like GenAI will remain as an assistant at lower complexity levels. Most complex websites need not only the skill but the initiative and creativity of experienced developers, which is unlikely to be substituted soon. However, even if that happens, I hope that it’ll only elevate the whole industry to an even higher level. I can almost visualise a single experienced app developer managing a bunch of AI bots developing a ground-breaking metaverse app in his garage in a few decades.

Sources:
[1] Bubble. (n.d.). Create an AI-Generated website in under a minute | Bubble. https://bubble.io/ai-website-generator

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Singapore’s Smart Nation Initiative is a great example of a countrywide attempt to leverage technology for the optimization of its functioning while improving the daily lives of its citizens. The project was launched in 2014 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. This initiative focuses on using the Internet of Things (IoT), but also open data and digital identity systems to streamline services, boost public safety, and make urban living more efficient. Essentially, the main aim is to wire the whole city together, so that it functions “smarter” and safer.

One of the features standing out is the Smart Nation Sensor Platform (SNSP). As a result of this project, already 110,000 lampposts equipped with wireless sensors have been placed across the island. They constantly collect data on traffic, public infrastructure usage, and even housing. This data is then used for example to improve planning public transport routes or maintain good quality of infrastructure in real-time and ensure its correct ageing. For me, it sounds like the future there just arrived. However, as with any other unrealistic future scenario, it seems to bring quite some worries, besides obvious benefits. Personally, I would not like my government to monitor every move I make. Even though it might not mean much on a unit level – after all, it’s just the human right to privacy broken – but on a macro-scale, it might lead to too much information about the whole society in the hands of too few decision-makers.

There are, however, undeniably positive aspects of Smart Nation. For example, The National Digital Identity system. This system simplifies online interactions between citizens, businesses and institutions making it significantly faster to engage in safer transactions like registering for services, filing tax reports or just verifying identity online.

To put the government’s involvement into a financial perspective, I ought to note that in 2017, it allocated $2.7 billion for potential collaborations with tech startups to foster Smart Nations development and deployment.

To conclude, by introducing Smart Nation, Singapore only solidifies its position as one of the world’s top 5 most innovative cities (IMD Business School, 2024).

Sources:

IMD Business School. (2024, September 12). Smart City Rankings – IMD business school for management and leadership courses. IMD Business School for Management and Leadership Courses. https://www.imd.org/smart-city-observatory/home/rankings/

Smart Nation Singapore. (n.d.). https://www.smartnation.gov.sg/

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, July 25). Smart nation. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Nation

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At the beginning of 2023, Space10, IKEA’s research and design lab, proposed a new solution for limiting carbon emissions. The innovation introduced NFT-based AR trees as an additional element of IKEA’s wooden chair, Froset. The idea behind this project was to incentivise consumers to fix, keep as long as possible and recycle the chair. Thereby, Froset users would extend the lifetime of the furniture, while at the same time capturing carbon for longer periods. Hence, the name of the project: Carbon Banks.

By linking the physical state of the chair with the virtual state of a growing tree attached to this chair, Carbon Banks hoped to create an emotional bond between the people and the furniture, which would ultimately drive people to treat furniture less as disposable durables, but more as living entities requiring our care. How could that be achieved?

Space10 proposed that the new Froset model will come with a unique floral pattern sculpted into the chair. The customer scanning that pattern would mint an NFT seed on a proof-of-stake protocol blockchain (eco-sustainable). With time, the seed would grow into a personalised and uniquely shaped tree with visual effects developed by a creative studio Zünc. Besides existing as an AR overlay, users could interact with their trees in completely virtual environments.

However, the tree would respond to the physical state of the chair, its repairs, resells and exchanges for other furniture, so that its development would be highly dependent on the owner’s care. The longer the furniture is used, the bigger and lusher the tree grows. Buying a second-hand Froset chair could be compensated by the included AR green decoration of customers’ homes. Finally, once the chair is properly recycled it will project a final animation of an all-over flower bloom.

Unfortunately, Space10 closed permanently in mid-2023 and the project never got implemented in IKEA’s portfolio. I believe the idea of linking dead things with ‘living’ entities has great potential as an effort to raise people’s consciousness about the products they use. After all, everything around us is part of one ecosystem, which means that a chair, a laptop or a plastic bottle, requires equally careful utilization to that of a living tree. For some reason, however, most people miss that conclusion. An NFT-powered solution proposed by Space10 makes the connection evident and calling for adequate action. By implementing interactive, captivating, and, most importantly, living artworks, IKEA could transform persistent, environmentally threatening habits into sustainable living practices.

References:
[1] https://space10.com/projects/carbon-banks
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl3VnOpMPeH/?img_index=1
[3] https://www.ikea.com/global/en/stories/sustainability/space10-190904/