There’s a moment in the latest trailer for season three of HBO’s sci-fi/drama series Westworld in which two seemingly-villainous omni-intelligent humanoid robots set stage to duel, the backdrop of a possible “robot apocalypse” at stake as the requisite undercurrent of conflict. The previous two seasons of the hit television show balanced the notions of “human choice” and the far-reaching implications of artificial intelligence; in fact, in season two (spoilers ahead!) featured a plot-line in which Dolores, the de-facto leader of the robot revolution and fantastically played by Evan Rachel Wood, enables a “digital Eden” in which the Westworld park’s robotic “hosts” can escape their reality and ditch their physical forms.
Season three, on the other hand, seems to portray the worst fears of artificial intelligence and robotics: the “robot uprising.” The trailers unveiled this week portray Ed Harris’ William/The Man in Black character vowing to “save the world” from whatever awful repercussions are about to occur to humanity.
While this type of storyline isn’t necessarily innovative (we can all remember the AI-heavy overtones in the Terminator series via the autonomous SkyNet entity), the intense artificial intelligence commentary is incredibly relevant to both consumers and business leaders alike, as the plot flows from “AI is here to serve us” to “AI is now here to destroy us.” In today’s tech-savvy environment, there are (probably) very few people who actually live in fear of a robot uprising or AI-led apocalypse. However, this line of thinking, when digging just a little deeper, represents something that hits closer to home, something that falls more in line with reality: displacement.
Some of the most vocal opponents of next-level technology, particularly AI and robotics, have often spoken about the displacement of human jobs and human roles within global businesses. After all, if AI was designed to effectively mimic the human mind, does that not mean AI-led technology will replace those humans?
The problem with media like Westworld is that it paints the absolute worst-case picture of the next generation of technology and automation: that humans can take full advantage of that enabled power for so long before the tech becomes self-aware and rebels (which is what happened with Maeve, a “host” in the Westworld park who has the ability to control the other robots). The truth is that AI as both a discipline and a technology is not new – it’s been in development since the 1950s and it’s not so monolithic (or nefarious) as you have been led to believe. Let’s review.
There are two basic kinds of AI: (1) narrow AI, and (2) artificial general intelligence (AGI). Narrow AI encompasses things like machine learning, optical character recognition (OCR), natural language processing (NLP), and robotic process automation (RPA), which are often integrated into digital or personal assistants that provide end users with the general look and feel of “smart” or “intelligent” systems. On the other hand, AGI works with deep learning and neural networks to fully replicate human cognitive processing to, one day, drive autonomous decision making and operations. Narrow AI has been here for quite some time, whereas AGI is perennially five years away; and it does not appear that AGI will supplant or subjugate its human masters.
Suffice it to say that the vision portrayed in the television show is so far off from not only the reality of what AI and robotics bring to the business table, but what is actually plausible from a technology standpoint. (Stanford University neuroscientist David Eagleman, who serves as the show’s “science adviser,” stated in an interview with NBC News that “[real] AI is not any good at the sort of broad intelligence” that is depicted in the show.)
Artificial intelligence must be looked at as a tool, not an outright replacement. It’s augmentative, and it’s powerfully supportive of what we need it to do. And if we just commit to educating our business selves with understanding exactly where and how it can augment daily operations, both tactical (invoice-processing, for example) and strategic (talent acquisition and staffing), then nearly every facet of the greater enterprise will benefit in some form.
Some business leaders once had a similar fear of the everyday enterprise software that we now all take for granted (although no one ever worried about their company’s ERP system becoming self-aware and sparking a robot uprising…right?), only now that fear is compounded due to the far-reaching, unrealistic implications of what Future of Work-era innovations will have on our workforce and our operations, compounded with the perceived threat that AI and robotics will, in short order, replace humans and their jobs.
There’s a stat from Ardent Partners’ upcoming research study (The State of Contingent Workforce Management 2020) that reveals an interesting perceptive point about AI in the business world, and why it shows hope: 70% of organizations believe that trusting artificial intelligence to assist with talent engagement and talent acquisition will transform the way work is addressed and done. This is a far cry from the “fear” that so many businesses have historically held onto in regard to the next generation of intelligent automation.
Will AI outright replace talent acquisition executive and their human-led strategies? No. But what it will do is help these professionals better understand the talent marketplace, arm them with the necessary insights on how (and when) to target both active and passive candidates, and create an enhanced overall alignment between role/project requirements and available skillsets and expertise.
2020 will be a year of education, a year when more and more businesses will start to truly understand the short- and long-term implications of artificial intelligence. Is the robot uprising years or decades off? No. Will artificial intelligence rebel against humanity? Also, no. Will I enjoy the new season of Westworld as nothing but an entertaining, well-written sci-fi/drama? Yes.
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Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Contingent Workforce, Innovation, Strategy, Technology, Transformation
