• About Talenttalks   |
  • FAQ   |
  • Events   |
  • Contact Us
Cart / R0.00

No products in the basket.

My account
Talenttalks
No Result
View All Result
Login
  • Culture & Engagement
  • Employee Wellbeing
  • Learning & Performance
  • The Hybrid World of Work
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Magazine
  • ZAR R
    • AUD $
    • EUR €
    • GBP £
    • USD $
  • Culture & Engagement
  • Employee Wellbeing
  • Learning & Performance
  • The Hybrid World of Work
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Magazine
  • ZAR R
    • AUD $
    • EUR €
    • GBP £
    • USD $
Login
Talenttalks
No Result
View All Result
Home Article

Getting on with AI

Gaylin Jee by Gaylin Jee
May 18, 2022
in Article, The Hybrid World of Work
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS

“AI will force us to rethink what it means to be human, and what’s deeply valuable about that.”

At the 2017 Robot Art Competition, robotic painters produced paintings like graduating art students, described as ‘aesthetically ambiguous’. The bearded face of a man stares out from one canvas, another depicts human emotion with jagged, gloomy stripes of black and purple.

AI is a field of computer science that mimics the natural learning process of the human brain by creating artificial neural networks. Developing machines that think is not new. World War II code-breaker and mathematician Alan Turing trailblazed the idea. Virtual assistants such as Apple’s Siri use AI engines to respond to enquiries. Siri can learn by using the feedback it gets to refine the results it provides. That’s why you can ask Siri to call ‘Dad’, once you’ve told it what name in your contacts is your father.

Most of us don’t intimately feel the impact of AI in our lives, or perhaps recognize it as the engine behind Siri, for example. And some of us assume ‘not in my lifetime’. Since WWII, we have come a long way. And with Google, Facebook and Microsoft investing heavily in AI systems, the future will start to look a lot closer.

AI is already advanced enough to enter into companies by way of virtual assistants, and in industries such as banking, as virtual tellers and advisors. AIs are good at processing huge amounts of data, and that’s valuable for services such as fraud detection and security surveillance. They are being used in law and medicine, not only to read and assess documents but to make recommendations, while advances in robotics are allowing doctors to perform surgeries remotely. It’s possible that soon simple surgeries will be performed by AI. South Korea has already introduced a tax on robots. They fear robots may take away jobs leading to mass unemployment. And Elon Musk is worried about AI. Speaking from a vantage point of being intimate with cutting-edge AI tech, he thinks AI could pose a threat to humanity. An AI already exists that can solve the Raven Progressive Matrices Test, an intelligence test of visual and analogical reasoning, better than the average American. Then there is Pepper, the humanoid robot featured in the cover picture, designed to read emotions by analyzing expressions and voice tones.

In future, diversity at work will include AI’s
We should learn to get on well, says Benjamin Wolh in his article How artificial intelligence and the robotic revolution will change the workplace of tomorrow, because diversity at work in the future will certainly include AIs. If robots are great at many things we don’t like or are not very good at, such as performing repetitive, monotonous tasks; concentrating for long periods of time, and quickly searching vast databases of information, we should welcome automation of tasks. You could do a better job focusing on what you have been specially evolved to be good at. But what are we specially evolved for? What does it means to be human, and what’s deeply valuable about that?

In a sense, that’s part of the problem. Liz Ryan, Founder of the Human Workplace, will tell you that we have lost a bit of humanity in the workplace:

‘There are people in this world who cannot tell you what they think and what they believe. They simply don’t know. They are programmed to be the person they think someone in authority — a hiring authority, for instance — wants them to be.’

For a long time, we have been working hard at squeezing out the nebulous, ‘hard-to-control-and-measure’ human factor. We have believed that doing so will make us more efficient. Given that creativity and FLOW at work (beyond just engagement) are now being recognised for their critical role in innovation, we’ll have to start addressing that, soon. Perhaps AI will force us to speed things up.

Working alongside machines will involve learning how to be better at being human.
Michael Harré, AI enthusiast and lecturer in Complex Systems at the University of Sydney, says that living and working with AI will push us to rethink basic assumptions about our sense of self. He believes that we will have to revise what we think consciousness actually is. Preparing for a robotic future of working more alongside machines, will force us to learn how to be better at being human.

The truth is, AI is coming for a lot of the jobs we know now. Whole careers will be innovated out of existence. But we will also innovate whole new careers into existence. People who are flexible and open to learning will continue to be in demand, says Harré, as will those who are more willing to be agile within the jobs they take.

We need to rethink what it means to be human, and what’s deeply valuable about that. Given we’ve spent a lot of time taking the human elements out of workplace, that’s going to be a big shift for some.

Previous Post

How To… 3 requirements for systems training

Next Post

SABPP’s launches a national leadership standard for SA

Gaylin Jee

Gaylin Jee

Gaylin aims to build a better world through developing leaders, building social capital in teams and raising awareness of more conscious business strategies and models. She searches out novel thinking and designs deeply practical tools to shift comfort zones and drive more innovative and purposeful results. Through her business, 33 Emeralds, she has worked with leaders and teams from FNB, Discovery Vitality Group, Edge Field (Field Operations for Tyme Digital Bank) MINT Group (Microsoft Global Country Partner 2019), Massmart, Sabre, Tiger Brands and Tiger Brands Foundation, Kimberly-Clark South Africa, a range of professional bodies including The Institute of People Management (IPM), The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and The Association of Accounting Technicians South Africa (AAT), and many smaller entrepreneurial organisations. In addition to writing, speaking, coaching and facilitating, you will find Gaylin collaborating around new ideas and offerings with others who share a drive to positively disrupt the world of work, and the role that humans play within it.

Related Posts

Finding the right balance between life, work and wellbeing
Article

Finding the right balance between life, work and wellbeing

May 24, 2022
The discipline of innovation
Article

The discipline of innovation

May 21, 2022
Addressing working mothers needs in the world of work
Article

Addressing working mothers needs in the world of work

May 18, 2022
Things I have learnt about being successful
Article

Things I have learnt about being successful

May 18, 2022
Vital skills for the future – Empathy
Article

Vital skills for the future – Empathy

May 15, 2022
Contemplating self love
Article

Contemplating self love

May 18, 2022
Next Post

SABPP’s launches a national leadership standard for SA

Log In


Join Now | Lost Password?

Topics

  • Culture and Engagement
  • Employee Wellbeing
  • Events
  • Learning and Performance
  • Reflection point
  • Sponsored Article
  • The Hybrid World of Work

Newsletter Signup Form

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Life Online, 51 Hill Street, Toowoomba, 4350, https://life-online.com.au/. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Important Links

About Talenttalks

FAQ

Contact Us

Recent articles

Mind the Gap – Episode 1 – Why is transformation so hard?

Mind the Gap – Episode 1 – Why is transformation so hard?

May 23, 2022
Developing tomorrow’s Leaders, today with Natalee Holmes. Part Two

Developing tomorrow’s Leaders, today with Natalee Holmes. Part Two

May 22, 2022
Finding the right balance between life, work and wellbeing

Finding the right balance between life, work and wellbeing

May 24, 2022

Quick Menu

  • About
  • Culture and Engagement
  • Learning and Performance
  • The Hybrid World of Work
  • Employee Wellbeing
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • FAQ
  • ZAR R
    • AUD $
    • EUR €
    • GBP £
    • USD $

Newsletter Signup Form

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Life Online, 51 Hill Street, Toowoomba, 4350, https://life-online.com.au/. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

© Talenttalks Evolve Thinking  |   Privacy Policy   |   Terms and Conditions   |   HTML Sitemap

  • About
  • Culture and Engagement
  • Learning and Performance
  • The Hybrid World of Work
  • Employee Wellbeing
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • FAQ
  • ZAR R
    • AUD $
    • EUR €
    • GBP £
    • USD $

© Talenttalks Evolve Thinking  |   Privacy Policy   |   Terms and Conditions   |   HTML Sitemap

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.