Machines, automation, is this the end of humanity? Fear it or embrace it?

Growing up

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Throughout my career I have spent many hours looking at processes, and no one has ever said to me that they don’t want me to remove friction and free them up to focus on tasks that create value rather than those that simply mean you work hard at low-value output.

Growing up, my Mum and Dad would often comment on how lucky we were, saying “you don’t know you’re born” and reminiscing about what hard work meant in their day. Reflecting on this, I think I now understand what they meant. It’s not just that I have more material possessions than they did (an inside toilet for example!), but as technology advanced, they were able to free up and devote valuable time to my upbringing.

“Would you like to go back to hand washing clothes?” they would ask, reminding me that instead of spending hours in front of the mangle, they could devote their time to playing with me and reading books. That automation we all take for granted enabled me to grow and learn.  

Industrial revolution

The agricultural and industrial revolutions created significant change. As we look at history, most revolutions have enabled the economic pie to grow as output increases.

The data tells the story: in the 1900s, agriculture accounted for 40 percent of employment in the United States. Today, it only accounts for 2 percent, and yet overall employment has not diminished.

250 years ago, we kick-started the Industrial Revolution, the machine age. It's when we first heard the buzzwords of the modern moment: disruption, acceleration. That's Karl Marx, actually. Acceleration of production, the factory system, acceleration of transport, the coming of the railways. Acceleration of information. The global village.  

Imagine

In the information and knowledge age, machines are evolving to undertake more activities. This creates time and space for us to automate the mundane tasks and, more importantly, allows us humans time to do what we do best: idea creation, empathy, conversation, social skills, development, growth, critical thinking, and common sense.  

Imagine having an extra hour to help a colleague with their development or talk to a customer, rather than creating a report from four different spreadsheets. Technology allows us to move from assemblers to analysers, providing insight to make better decisions.

AI and automation excel at speed, accuracy, logic, and memory. Neither humans nor AI are perfect, but together they can be a powerful force. AI can assist humans, giving them nudges and making suggestions. For instance, AI in the medical profession can assist in cancer detection. AI algorithms were able to detect prostate cancer with 94% accuracy, compared to 88% accuracy for human pathologists working alone. When AI and human pathologists worked together, they were able to detect 97% of prostate cancers, with a false positive rate of 13% (The Journal of Cancer, 2020).

What exactly is AI?

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So what is AI? Keeping it simple: AI is an algorithm—a finite series of steps that help solve a problem—and it’s a technique we use all the time. If you are hungry, you might follow a series of steps to make a sandwich. This is an algorithm. Just like humans, AI can be taught, learn, or be supervised. Imagine your parents showing you how to make a sandwich versus you teaching yourself versus you being shown and then supervised. Along the way, you may set goals about your sandwich—maybe how quickly you can make it or how tasty it is. As you learn the ingredients you like and the time it takes, you adjust your algorithm so it makes the best sandwich.

There is a lot to be said about the challenges with AI. Bias is a common topic. Bias, for me, is as much a human challenge as it is an AI one. I often wonder if it’s a reflection of us; after all, it is only a tool.  Like all things, we should use our judgment to understand whether what we are seeing and hearing makes sense. We should ask good questions. Ultimately, we should expect fairness, accuracy, and transparency from our humans and AI.

Boundaries are important too. I wouldn’t necessarily want my AI to read my child’s bedtime story. While it could do it, there is an important element of human connection and empathy that will always play its role.

And what about us?

In this ever-evolving landscape, we must remember that AI and technology are here to augment our lives, not replace the human connections that make us uniquely capable of empathy, creativity, and growth.  

That’s why, at Humanity Hub, we believe in ensuring that digital transformations allow employees to reach their potential and prosper. Creating a workplace that’s a hub of activity where people and tech come together to produce great things.  It’s a matter of both mind and machine.  We want to create smarter workplaces, where people feel empowered by technology, not overwhelmed by it.

Digital transformation is more than just rolling out new kit and automation - it's about designing better ways of working and bringing out the best in people through tailored digital solutions.  It’s not just the technology that excites us, we’re incredibly passionate about the brilliance of the human mind.  Our experts understand culture and draw on behavioural sciences, because knowing how we think, solve, and create is just as important as artificial intelligence and cutting-edge tech.

Tech should enable businesses and humans to flourish. By embracing the possibilities that AI brings while nurturing our innate human qualities, we can create a future where technology and humanity thrive together.

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