AI is not going to eradicate humanity, nor is it going to leave us jobless

SXSW ended a few weeks ago, but everything we heard there still resonates. Here are some insights from Fernando Ostanelli , Executive Director at CI&T.

I landed at SXSW 2024, determined to broaden and deepen perspectives on the evolution of artificial intelligence and how it will integrate and redefine our new reality of work and collaboration. Impacted by in-depth conversations I've had in recent months with clients, colleagues, and technology teams, and fears and anxieties about our AI-powered future were frequently expressed, I was mainly determined to return from Austin with a different vision. My idea was to gather perspectives and arguments that would help me reinvigorate the general optimism about the transformative potential of this technology.

I came back extremely satisfied, excited, and optimistic. I am convinced that, despite the uncertainties and the enormous responsibility we have as human beings, we are also fully capable of influencing the development of AI so that it can be a transformative technological force for the good of humanity. It must also enable a hybrid, hyper-automated reality that will expand our capabilities and free up our time and mental bandwidth to become even more human.

To share some reasons for my renewed optimism, I've highlighted the central points of view of a talk that resonated with me, as it addresses the future of work, its correlation with AI, and its role in amplifying rather than diminishing human capacity. The vision shared by Ian Beacraft, CEO of Signal and Cipher, demonstrates that we must create a tomorrow where AI acts as our partner in the collective journey, challenging us to think big, innovate responsibly, and embrace the vast possibilities ahead.

In his talk entitled "Billion Dollar Teams: The Future of an AI-Powered Workforce, " Beacraft projected an exciting, optimistic, yet realistic perspective on the work revolution driven by AI. He drew attention to the transformative impact of this technological evolution on team structures within organizations. In addition, he proposed an approach focused on the pragmatic integration of this technology to reimagine current processes and change the focus of day-to-day tasks.

For him, AI does not replace but expands human potential, allowing us to reach unprecedented levels of creativity, innovation, and productivity. However, AI must reshape current organizational structures, enabling a more fluid and dynamic vision of work based on missions/projects/tasks rather than fixed departments/positions/functions, allowing for greater flexibility and harnessing individual skills. I fully agree with these points of view.

Another highlight was how the integration of AI can turn small teams into powerful forces, potentially creating billion-dollar teams, even with just a few members, that can innovate and solve complex problems with unprecedented speed and scale. As a result, there will be more and more companies in the world, but they will be smaller and have AI as their main ally.

This reconfiguration will lead to an inevitable change in the jobs and dynamics we know today. Some occupations will cease to exist, others will be transformed, and many new ones will emerge. All of this will require new skills and abilities. So far, everything is the same as we've experienced before due to other major technological revolutions. The fact is that the demand for work will continue to exist. It will be different, but it will exist.

This perspective suggests a scenario where human-AI collaboration reshapes this concept, making it more adaptive and resilient to future demands and challenging the common fear that artificial intelligence could cause the extinction of human jobs. Although the future of our employment brings uncertainty, the best approach is not to resist change but to embrace it, reimagining practices and business models to take advantage of its potential. We need to recognize and develop new skills and adopt new management systems to distribute expertise dynamically and manage work in its latest form. The key to this more promising world is a culture of just-in-time learning, where individuals and organizations are continually adapting, learning, and innovating.

To navigate this new era, we must reject arrogance and fear. The secret to building a great tomorrow lies not in resisting technological advances but in our curiosity and ability to adapt and, more importantly, to set the course for this technology so that it expands our capabilities and raises our collective human potential.

I hope your optimism about our future as AI-empowered human beings has been reinvigorated, as has mine, after yet another SXSW.

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