The Dopamine Economy

Elon Musk recently asked his X followers to give honest feedback about GROK, the A.I. model that competes with ChatGPT.

Our feedback: Engines like ChatGPT and GROK are the ultimate dopamine machines.

(Notice how they are always positive about you and your ideas…)

What does that mean?

Dopamine is a chemical that is released in our brains when we experience pleasure. We can get dopamine released by things like exercise and receiving good news.

But we also get it from drugs, gambling, sex, drinking – and social media.

Why is this important?

Dopamine is an important part of the economy now. Algorithms are designed to give you dopamine in exchange for your money or attention. Social media usage has exploded, online gambling, meme coin investing and gaming all deliver dopamine hits.

Experts believe dopamine is and will continue to be an important part of the economy as more people lose their jobs, or even the need to work, they will turn to more and more behaviors that generate dopamine.

The AI revolution is exciting, and many great improvements will come to humanity as a result, but remember to unplug and evaluate your own dopamine patterns as algorithms will learn to use these behaviors to drive action, capture dollars and engage you in more and more screen time.

That said, happy Saturday and please forward this post to one friend who is probably scrolling TikTok at the moment and needs to hear this.

It gives us a big dopamine hit.