Two Futures of AI: Ads That Target You vs Assistants That Serve You

Some weeks, AI news feels like background noise. Other weeks, it hits you with a reality check. This week was one of those moments.

On one side, Meta revealed that starting in December, the conversations you have with its AI will be used to shape the ads you see. Ask about hiking and you’ll suddenly notice boots, gear and trail guides flooding your feed. Talk about money worries and payday loan offers might not be far behind. There is no opt-out.

At the same time, OpenAI announced something called Pulse. Instead of using your words to sell you something, Pulse uses them to help you. It learns from your history, your calendar, your preferences, and then gives you a personalised morning briefing. Think reminders, industry updates, and even little nudges to keep you on track.

Two announcements, same week. They might look unrelated at first, but together they show a very clear fork in the road. Do we want AI that serves us, or AI that sells us?

Meta’s Play: Conversations as Ad Fuel

Meta has always built its empire on data. This time, it has gone one step further by deciding that your AI conversations are fair game. If you chat with Meta AI about your next holiday, you can expect offers for flights or hotel deals. If you ask about nutrition, you may see ads for supplements.

Sensitive categories like politics, religion and health are excluded, but only partly. And if you’re thinking you’ll simply turn it off, the answer is no. If you use Meta’s AI, your chats will be analysed. Full stop.

For small and mid-sized businesses, this creates an interesting dilemma. On one hand, better targeting could mean sharper ad campaigns. On the other, do you really want your customers to feel like every word they type is being fed back into a giant advertising machine? Trust is already fragile online. If people believe their private conversations are being exploited, they may pull back completely.

The bigger risk is reputational. Once customers lose faith in how their words are used, winning them back is nearly impossible.

OpenAI’s Countermove: Pulse as a Personalised Assistant

While Meta pushes toward surveillance, OpenAI is trying something more supportive. Pulse is designed to help you before you even ask. Imagine starting your day and instead of scrambling through emails or sticky notes, you get a simple feed of cards with what matters most. A reminder of tomorrow’s client meeting. A short digest of relevant industry news. A gentle nudge about that proposal you left unfinished.

This isn’t about selling you trainers or supplements. It’s about saving you time and attention. That difference matters.

For a small or mid-sized business, Pulse could be a genuine productivity booster. Less time wasted digging for details means more time spent on strategy and customer relationships. Picture a café owner getting an automatic update on local events that could boost weekend traffic, or a consultant being reminded of prep notes for a big pitch without needing to search for them.

Of course, it isn’t perfect. The more you rely on Pulse, the more tied you become to OpenAI. Switching away once it has learned your habits won’t be easy. And there is always the chance of over-nudging, where the AI feels less like a helper and more like a pushy manager. Privacy is still a question too. The data may be used differently than Meta’s, but it is still being collected.

The Bigger Picture

Meta and OpenAI are showing us two very different futures. One is built on ads. The other is built on assistance.

Meta’s future sees every interaction as another piece of fuel for its marketing engine. OpenAI’s future sees interactions as the foundation for personalised productivity.

The choice sounds simple, but it isn’t. Ads can keep products cheap or even free, which is why billions of people still use Meta’s platforms. Assistance comes at a price, since Pulse is locked behind a Pro subscription. Both paths ask for something in return: one asks for your data, the other asks for your money.

For business owners, the question is not just which AI you prefer, but which model aligns with your values and your customers’ expectations.

Why Small Businesses Should Care

If you run a small business, you cannot shrug this off as a Silicon Valley story. It affects you in three ways.

First, your customers. If they feel manipulated, they may turn away from any AI-powered service that resembles Meta’s approach. That could damage your marketing if you lean heavily on those platforms.

Second, your own efficiency. Tools like Pulse could give you an edge by keeping you organised and informed, especially if you don’t have a big team to support you.

Third, your long-term control. The more dependent you become on these tools, the more locked in you are to the companies behind them. If prices rise or policies shift, you could find yourself trapped.

A Practical Way Forward

Here’s what I tell the businesses I work with at Intellisite.co.

Start by being transparent. If you use AI in your business, let your customers know how and why. Trust will be your most valuable currency in the years ahead.

Experiment with assistants like Pulse in safe areas of your workflow. Try it for internal reminders or industry news, but don’t let it run every part of your business just yet.

Be cautious with AI that makes money by mining your data. If you don’t want your customers to feel exploited, avoid systems that treat them as the product.

And above all, pick AI tools because they solve real problems for you. Not because they are shiny or hyped.

Conclusion

We are standing at a crossroads. Meta is betting on surveillance. OpenAI is betting on service. Neither is perfect, and both come with risks.

For small and mid-sized businesses, the decision is not abstract. It is about what kind of relationship you want with your customers, and what kind of relationship you want with your own tools.

If you choose wrongly, you may save money today but lose trust tomorrow. If you choose wisely, you can build a business that runs smarter, faster and with more confidence.

At Intellisite.co, we believe AI should be a partner, not a parasite. It should help you, not sell you. The future is being written right now, and the path you take will decide whether AI makes your business stronger or weaker.

So ask yourself: which kind of AI do you want at your side?