AI Empowerment of Society – Too Much Too Soon?

AI Empowerment of Society – Too Much Too Soon?

"This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what science will be in the next 50 years” - Alan Turing

Alan Turing, the father of computer science and AI said this in 1949. However, the real import and ramifications of his prophetic statement are going to reveal to humanity in all its splendor and glory in the next 50 years.

AI’s resurgent and profound impact on work and society is going to be felt very soon. By everyone. Unlike other technologies, AI adoption will be quicker. It eliminates many barriers for faster and wider acceptance at a greater pace. The technology could either give an extra turbo-boost to legacy technologies/systems or build newer ones ground-up at lower cost and better efficiencies. Obvious economic imperatives too would hasten the push. Early adopters are all in awe of its capabilities and future potential. The blockbuster launch of the ‘AI wave 2.0’ less than a year ago, is still in the formative stages. Ambling. The true race is yet to begin.

Some of the currently available (and under advanced R&D/testing) AI tools take one’s breadth away. Their transformative potential is anything we have seen so far. Cherry on the cake, it’s quick to grab and run with it. Here are some primers:

·       Thoughts can now be converted to text.

·       A text command describing your ‘rough’ idea is all that’s required to create a picture/video/animation in a jiffy (collation from trained data).

·       ‘Text-to-motion’ code is cracked (generating 3D motion objects from scratch).

Many such Sci-Fi scenarios are either already born or in fast-track/last-stage development to transform our lives. Not to mention, the original earth-shaking ChatGPT is already behind and fast becoming redundant. And, we have just started the AI roll. Technology will only advance with time. At the current rate, thanks to rapid advancements, even the next 3-5 years' AI horizon remains mostly unknown. That’s both exhilarating as well as concerning.

Here’s a situation to visualize: A group of highly efficient individuals congregates to brainstorm a challenge. Don’t forget this group is almost ALL efficient. No laggards. What would be the outcome? Importantly, ‘how’ would the outcome be achieved? Will they arrive at a solution faster? Or, prolong solutioning? Will it be a play of egos and eventual chaos?

AI is going to be the elixir that’s going to make everyone a ‘better self’ (efficient) in what they do and aspire for. Advanced AI provides the magic key that’s going to open up many new possibilities and avenues for everyone. Motivation increases with achievements and vice-versa. It’s a mutually reinforcing perpetual cycle. How will the ‘everyone a better self’ scenario play on a team, a company, an Industry, society, country, and humanity? Get the hint?

Will pervasive AI affect the dynamics of social and societal interactions of humans? Will existing arrangements and constructs hold fort or give out? Sociologists are having a tough time postulating. Wish this was just a hypothetical situation. Absolutely not.

With advanced AI, everybody will be ‘empowered’. All of a sudden that too. Be it at work or in life. Everyone will have tremendous and easy ‘access’ to global information of all sorts. Concise, analyzed, and delivered pronto on preferred font and format. Information is power. Democratization of ‘access’ to information will happen at scale with advanced AI adoption.

Probably, humanity’s biggest dilemma is about to unfold. Sooner than we expect. The swift advancements and maturity of AI technologies are making us increasingly underprepared. Time frames aren’t of comfort. May be 5-10 years at the outer estimate. That seems too short for humanity to readjust.

Humans take a lot of comfort in the ‘known’. Unknowns unsettle us. Ironically, AI’s road ahead is mostly unknown. It’s evolving by the day. While we are certain that many things would be hyper-efficient in the near future, we still don’t have a definitive foresight about what AI technologies are capable of conjuring as it becomes more powerful. Frankenstein scenarios aren’t totally misplaced. The rapidness and newness (frontier) of it all take away two of humans’ most cherished safeguard attributes. Time to contemplate at leisure, and the comfort of historical perspectives.

Everybody gets the key to unlock and harness the extraordinary gift box of collective human knowledge. At ease. That’s huge. Pandora’s box or bliss? I’m drawing a blank just like everybody else.

Acknowledgment: Jini Heller our interaction is the source of this article.

#ai #artificialintelligence #humanity #people #tech #researchanddevelopment #cognition #hr #humanresources #digital #science #future

 Author Profile: Writes about life. Consults on human potential and workplace HR. A keen observer of emerging trends and technologies that enhance workplace productivity. AI/People Analytics and its effective and ethical usage at the workplace is the current preoccupation. Over 25 years of broad experience developing Leadership/Human Resources in large global organizations and start-ups. Enjoy analyzing and going beyond the hype. Admire the word ‘holism’.