Artificial Intelligence. Whether we like it or not, it’s here and it looks like it’s here to stay. No. Expand.
With the incoming flood of AI technology, you may be fearful. “The robots are gonna take our jobs!” As a new software engineer, not too long ago I shared a similar sentiment. However, my attitude towards AI’s place in our job market has changed. Now, I strongly believe we should welcome such technology with open arms and allow it to augment our lives, rather than replace us. This does not mean, however, that we should lie still. To properly compete in the tech world, young generations today should strive for a balance between being able to work with technology, and, (perhaps more importantly) nurture the humanity in themselves.
One major regret I have in my life is that I didn’t learn how to code sooner. In my mind I had always imagined programming as very complex computer jargon comprised of advanced equations far beyond my level of comprehension. While there are different levels to computer programming, most software engineers out there don’t use any math more complex than basic algebra. Not only that, but the languages used are often very intuitive. A while loop (While x is true, do y), is used colloquially every day: “While you’re awake, can you please keep your phone ringer on?” Young children would have no problem understanding the logic of that sentence. What does that tell me? That kids can, and should learn coding at an early age to get them accustomed to working with technology.
If you invest your time learning programming, you will take away much of the mysteries out there about technology. It may seem less “magical” as you break it down, but it is worth it to sacrifice magic for understanding. It is in this capacity that you can see how technology, rather than replace us, can help strengthen human abilities, and vice versa. In time you will find that machines actually make human time more valuable. Can a person flip through a five-hundred page book and count the number of times a certain word is used? Sure. But, why do that in a day what a machine can do in a few seconds? AI is also being increasingly used in the classroom to assist teachers in relaying information to students. I was exposed to this when I was a teacher last year, as my students would spend much of their class-time on the digital learning platform, Zearn. While I see that there is much room for improvement in the digital learning market, there is something that these platforms won’t be able to compete with real teachers on any time soon: the quality of being human.
It sounds like a joke, because we are all born human, but don’t take attributes like compassion, sympathy, or kindness for granted. In fact, as I see it, today these traits come by at a premium. It is clear we need to get accustomed with technology, but we should be careful not to reach the breaking point of being attached to our technology. This reminds me of a very vivid scene from one of my favorite books, Midnight, by Dean Koontz: A teenage hacker spends so much time in front of his computer, his body parts become conjoined with the machinery (There’s more to it than that, but I don’t want to spoil anything). While this situation may be science-fantasy, written in the 1980s, it is actually quite prophetic of the world in 2020. Next time you’re outside, count how many people you see on their phones. Hopefully more people are wearing masks.
What’s the advantage in the job market for “people people”? For one, the opportunity to fill in the huge and growing demand for which computers are in short supply: talking with other people. Maybe you just downloaded a new software for your computer, but you are having trouble understanding it. If you called up the software company, who would you rather have walk you through the process? A robot, or a person? I also feel similarly about those robocalls. If you’re going to call my grandma and scam her, at least have the guts to speak into the phone yourself.
So how do we achieve this “golden mean” on the spectrum between tech and humanity? It seem like the tech is already constantly in our face, so I would suggest changing the way you’re using tech (scrolling through instagram for an hour versus learning a programming language) and then scaling back to allow the light in you shine. This could mean enjoying nature or simply connecting with other people. After this pandemic is over, you may find that simply hanging out with friends is more productive than you thought.
Sources:
Daugherty, Paul R., and H. James Wilson. Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI. Harvard Business Review Press, 2018.
