A Revolution as Big as the Web
We believe AI will have a large-scale impact on business and society similar to the introduction of the World Wide Web. Decades from now, we’ll look back on this time as an inflection point with a clear before and after, just like the internet revolution. That if you project 30 years ahead, there will be new norms, jobs and forms of entertainment that seem as fantastical to us today as iPhones, Meta Ray-Bans, Uber and Airbnb would have seemed to Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.
The biggest difference between those two revolutions is that while widespread access to the web unfolded slowly over more than a decade, AI and LLM-based products have become incredibly commonplace in the three years since ChatGPT’s release.
The incredible accelerationism of this moment demands that companies act fast to define their future because not just businesses but entire business models will disappear in the next decade, with new ones emerging in their place. That’s what we’re doing at HLK: moving quickly to innovate not just technologically but from a business model perspective as well.
From Copilot to Catalyst
For individuals, the metaphor of AI as a copilot or assistant is apt. Some tasks are simply faster with AI, while others can be delegated entirely. At this point, that’s pretty much table stakes.
The exciting part is when AI enables something that wasn’t previously possible. We invest heavily (accelerated by AI itself, of course) in seeking these use cases and building small proofs of concept. Then, with the winning concepts, we focus on bringing those innovations to market, either internally or for our clients.
A Glimpse of 2030
At this year’s MOVES conference, our team built a custom GPT trained on five years of trend forecasting data and designed to behave as if it were the year 2030. It was equipped with insights into U.S. culture, society and industry trends across our key verticals, and participants could collaborate with it like a slightly-too-chipper marketing assistant from the future.
Attendees worked with the AI to gather data and generate responses to randomly generated RFPs for fictional companies that could plausibly exist in 2030. The session was a hit, and that “custom GPT” approach has since become central to our proof-of-concept workflow.
“My only regret? It took about 30 tries before it finally told me my beloved St. Louis Blues won the 2030 Stanley Cup.” – Bob Sherron, VP of Technology, HLK
While the futuristic assistant was ultimately a fun experiment to encourage people to move AI higher in their creative process, the impact has been real, sparking innovation and deeper curiosity across the agency.
Challenging Misconceptions
There’s growing concern about AI taking human jobs. At HLK, our goal isn’t to replace people with machines, it’s to empower them. If AI helps us complete something faster, that extra time becomes an opportunity to create greater value elsewhere.
Efficiency doesn’t mean less humanity, it means more space for creativity, strategy and impact. Opportunities will always exist for those who proactively seek them.
Preparing for What’s Next
We think that a healthy way of looking at AI is to consider it as a driver of possibility. For example, Sora 2 was recently released, and its video output is leaps ahead of what the previous model could do, much less what was possible before AI. We believe that having more possibilities is better than having fewer.
Of course, there are tradeoffs and challenges: safety, bias, cybersecurity and cost. But having concerns about the future isn’t an excuse to turn your back on it. At HLK, we’re addressing those challenges head-on through AI governance, training and intentional experimentation. We’re pushing each other to think deeply about how these tools can move brands forward and supporting one another and our clients through this revolution.
If we continue to approach AI with curiosity, thoughtfulness and bravery, HLK will be well positioned to deal with whatever’s on the other side of the AI revolution.