The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
Stephen Hawking – Physicist
Alexa, my Samsung TV, and most of our connected home products can talk to me and each other. But, machine smartness is causing problems. Big Brother, smart machine (s) seem to be always recording, listening and monitoring. CCTV are always filming and surveilling. Facial recognitions systems are always scanning and identifying VUCANs. These seem like a minor inconvenience, but will get more intrusive as these machines get smarter. Ian McEwan, the English writer, recently warned:
“We are on the verge of turning off Alexa. She [the voice-controlled smart speaker] keeps butting in on our conversations and I am rather suspicious of this listening device in the room. We might just pull the plug on her.”[i]
The rules of engagement and even questions around work with machines have not been defined. And then, there’s the relationship thing between VUCAN and machine. Are the rules: VUCAN and machine, VUCAN or machine, VUCAN + machine, VUCAN – machine, or something not yet envisioned? The New York Times posed three questions about AI’s impact on the Future of Work:
- What can it do?
- Where is it headed?
- How fast will it spread?[ii]
Work Lesson Earned: Where will this go? No one knows! There’s not even a relationship taxonomy to describe the work relationship with machines. Taken to a logical next step, McEway in Machines Like Me, describes a relationship triangle thought impossible just a few years ago: “A couple—Charlie and Miranda—find themselves in a fraught ménage-à-trois with their android, Adam.“[iii] He continues:
“One of the most ethically contentious subjects of the day: the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and a potentially uneasy co-existence of real and synthetic humans.”[iv]
[i] ‘As AI Advances, What Are Humans For?’, Economist, April 26, 2019.
[ii] ‘A.I. Will Transform the Economy: But how much And How Soon?’, The New York Times, December 3, 2017.
[iii] ‘As AI Advances, What Are Humans For?’, Economist, April 26, 2019.
[iv] ‘As AI Advances, What Are Humans For?’, Economist, April 26, 2019.