When it comes to computational tasks, machines will beat humans every time in calculation accuracy, pattern recognition, and processing speed. But qualities like human ingenuity, creativity, the entrepreneurial spirit, etc. are some things that even the most advanced robots cannot replicate or replace. The media has us believing that artificial intelligence will imminently take over all our jobs, every industry will be automated. Nada R. Sanders, a professor at Northeastern University, says that this is not entirely true, in the forthcoming book she co-authored with John D. Wood, The Humachine.
It is true that artificial intelligence is changing the way we work. It’s transforming the way we work, forcing some of us out of our jobs. AI is changing entire industries and creating new ones. The companies that accept this change understand and transform with time to optimize technology to work with and augment the abilities of their employees will survive and succeed. Sanders’ and Wood’s say this is a new breed of organisation, in their book The Humachine, they define it as “the optimal human-machine partnership”. Examples of companies that exhibit traits of a Humachine, according to Sanders, are Haier, Google, and Zappos.
“This is a completely new paradigm shift,” says Sanders. “It is going to require what we call in the book a change in the DNA of the company. It is a mutation. It’s not going from point A to point B. It is a completely different kind of organisation.”
She says the problem is that the majority of companies and educational institutes still follow the old paradigms and are failing to prepare the workforce for the future with machines. This theory is supported by a survey conducted by Northeastern University with Gallup, it revealed the majority of people from the US, Canada, and the UK think that AI will improve their lives. However, they believe that the government, higher education, and employers are not doing enough to improve their skills. They believe that automation and advancement in machine learning will do more good than harm.
Mayuri Talgaonkar
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