What would it be like, to never have to perform a dull task again? To work only because you love what you do, and not because you desperately need the money? Since mankind started to walk upright, we have had to work. First, we had to hunt, in order to feed ourselves. In the centuries that followed, more and more sophisticated and specialised jobs emerged. The goal of every job, however, was eventually fulfil our needs, and stay alive while doing so.
The recent great improvements of Artificial Intelligence technology might very well change the way we look at work. In some fields, AI can reach superhuman performance levels. Tasks that involve routine and experience, can especially best be executed by AI technology. There are many things we do not have to do ourselves any more, as soon as we start to embrace this powerful tool. Some people might consider that a threat to their jobs. How will they fulfil their needs if machines/technologies start to take over?
Personally, I do not think we are heading for a Matrix-like scenario. We still possess some characteristics that machines do not have, and never will. Us humans are capable of compassion, love and empathy, and we can create new things from scratch. AI needs examples and input to be able to function properly. AI can never teach our kids how they should tie their shoelaces, or how to make friends and how to interact with others. AI can never comfort a grieving person, only the loving words and sweet embrace of a loved one can. And that is exactly where our potential for the future lies. We need to completely redesign the way we look at work, at the world even. Assisted by technology, we will no longer be needed for most of the simple jobs, but only be here for the ‘compassion/creativity’ jobs. We should leverage that heavily, and we should start with that as soon as possible. Teachers will be needed far more in the future, to guide the next generations in this ever changing and complex new era. Creative thinkers will be needed far more to bring joy to the world. And how great would it be to have enough caregivers, so that we can give our elderly and sick the care they actually and desperately need?
It is AI that is going to make our world a better and more loving place. The only thing it needs for that, are those machines of flesh and blood, the ones we call ‘humans’.
read more at:https://www.ted.com/talks/kai_fu_lee_how_ai_can_save_our_humanity/transcript
Hey Matthijs, thank you for sharing this!
A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a conference where Paul Daugherty, the Chief Technology & Innovation Officer of Accenture, introduced his vision on the topic. In particular, he presented his recent book “HUMAN + MACHINE – Reimaging work in the age of AI”. As the title already shows, Mr Daugherty is not worried about machines taking over human role or tasks. The best outcomes are achieved when the two work together. In fact, on the one hand, machines are tools to enhance human potential, and, on the other, human creativity remains undoubtedly essential to extend our capabilities. It is necessary to trust these technologies and to take the most out of them, trough a clever and judgment-based approach. As you were also mentioning, although humans are by nature flexible and adaptable, machines are not, they need programmers. Even more important, at the end of the day, Artificial Intelligence is accountable for nothing, humans are. Many times, when looking at the Artificial Intelligence potential and possible applications, people forget to consider the downsizes as, for instance, the lack of creativity. The future looks challenging but extremely exciting and I personally cannot wait to see where these new technologies and their unbelievable applications will lead us or, more appropriate, how the human potential and creativity will be able to exploit all the opportunities that Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data and so on bring into play.