Someday soon we won’t have to respond to our hundreds of emails and texts. We’ll have AI assistants for that. They’ll carry on conversations with other assistants while we live our lives, oblivious to the digital world carrying on without us...
AI Me: “Want to go for coffee tomorrow morning?”
AI You: “Sure, let’s go. I found a time when our schedules are in synch.”
“Sweet, dude. It’s done. Where are we going?”
“Tim Horton’s.” [This is a sponsored response]
“Why not Starbucks? I have $8.13 left on my digital gift card.” [This response may contain sensitive data.]
“But Tim’s has a new donut featured. We should try it.” [This response includes promotional material.]
“Then it's settled, buddy! See you then.”
“See you, pal.”
The age of automation is upon us. It’ll be a great, I’m sure.... Well, kind of sure. To be honest, I have no idea how things are going to turn out.
I do worry about the new age of work. What will we do for jobs when robots can do everything better than us? Who would you rather have as an employee: A super robot that never gets sick or a human employee who struggles to focus without coffee and wants weekends off?
Yes, the office environment has already created “robots” attached to screens and they're not the healthiest individuals. It would be great to shed this sedentary work environment, but not if it means giving up our pay cheques.
The utopian ideal, where we no longer have to work 40 hours a week, sounds great in theory, but I get the sense we already have it too easy. Compared to past centuries, each of us has the equivalent of a thousand slaves. This slave power comes in the form of bundled energy and technology that transports us everywhere and connects us to virtually anyone in the world. Has it made us a thousand times happier? Or just a tiny bit more neurotic and anxiety-ridden?
Overall, I’m still convinced it’s a great time to live, but perhaps we’re on the precipice of a problematic age? An age where humans become secondary? In China, I learned there are now dark factories. These are manufacturing centres that operate without the lights on because the robots working there don’t require them.
I don’t even want to touch this apocalyptic scenario, but China could be the first country to operate portions of its economy without the need for humans. I doubt this will end well.
Not only can robots do the physical work of humans, they can now also master complex mental tasks. They can make independent decisions in areas we once never thought possible. They can beat us at chess, for goodness’ sake!
Not even the top programmers understand how new AI programs work. We don’t understand what goes on in our own brains, let alone the inner wiring of microchips. We’ll have to develop computers to understand computers.
It makes my human head hurt.
Which gets back to my AI assistant. This is just the tip of the AI iceberg. In the future, we may have AI lawyers that will negotiate with other AI lawyers. We may have AI judges, removing all bias from the judicial system (this is already being implemented in parts of the U.S. but so far with the same bias). We’ll most certainly have AI doctors that will treat us with the most cutting-edge treatments.
We may even choose AI companionship over human relationships. Believe it or not, ChatGPT romances are already a thing (no joke and, uh, no judgment?). They’re becoming more common among young people in particular who want to connect without the risk of rejection.
What will be lacking is human contact. As humans, we thrive on this, even though we sometimes don’t like to admit as much. Even if we partake in the occasional ChatGPT romance (again, no judgment), what we shouldn’t shy away from are the communities that nurture us and keep us sane.
Like what I witnessed at our neighbourhood grocery store the other day, where three people were talking loudly, happy to see one another. How often do you see that in a bigger city? Judging by their accents, they weren’t born in Canada. We could learn something from cultures that greet one another enthusiastically in public spaces. It demonstrates a sense of community.
Robots will never do that. Um, I guess unless you program them to?
Again, I have no idea how this all turns out.
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