As AI and GPT Infiltrate the Digital World, It’s Time to Give the Built World the Respect It Deserves

Last week, Open AI announced GPT-4, which is the most recent iteration of the artificial intelligence language models that we’ve all heard so much about. What began as essentially a glorified search engine is now taking on more and more human-like capabilities. The latest version can now accept both text and image inputs, pass many standardized tests including scoring within the top 10% of the bar exam, and offer more nuanced and creative outputs than ever such as writing a poem on an extremely technical topic.

GPT and other AI technologies are moving at such a breakneck pace that I wanted to take a closer look at their impact on both our digital and physical worlds, what it means going forward, and which things that are innately part of our human nature that they can never replace.

AI and GPT are rapidly encroaching on all aspects of our digital lives

Whether we are aware of it or not, AI technologies have?already made significant headway?into our daily digital lives. The days of clunky automated phone trees in customer service centers are quickly coming to an end, replaced by voice assistants that sound more and more like a real person. Sometimes I don't even know if I am talking to a human or AI when I call a support line.

In addition, AI and GPT technologies are seeping into every industry, potentially affecting jobs and workflows in unprecedented ways. A?recent study by Cornell University?noted that “approximately 80% of the U.S. workforce could have at least 10% of their work tasks affected by the introduction of GPTs, while around 19% of workers may see at least 50% of their tasks impacted.”

AI and GPT are not (yet) affecting the built world in same way

While all of this amazing technology certainly has a place within industries that serve our physical world, it is not yet affecting manufacturing, construction, maintenance, and the skilled trades in the same way. We are not yet surrounded by robots that repair our electrical lines, build our houses, or fix our industrial boilers.

Instead, the role of AI technology in the built world is more complementary. For example, predictive maintenance technologies use sensors that monitor things like temperature or humidity 24/7 in my industry so technicians can pinpoint repairs and maintenance at the exact time they are needed. The construction industry relies on computer-aided design technologies to create blueprints or turns to?solutions for scheduling or safety?assistance, but still relies on construction workers and equipment to create physical structures.?

The reality is that it's much easier to work with things like bits and bytes, speech to text, and text to text, compared with moving atoms and things in the physical world. Boston Dynamics, a robotics company with a mission to “imagine and create exceptional robots that enrich people’s lives”, is working hard to get us there, but applications in the physical world are much farther into the future when compared with AI and GPT applications in the digital world.

We undervalue the physical world and the people who maintain it

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about how we, as a country, have failed to take care of our physical infrastructure. Each and every one of us depend on our roads, bridges, buildings, and utilities on a daily basis, yet maintaining this critical infrastructure often gets pushed aside for the digital world. I think we've all been so consumed by the rapidly developing innovation in software that it’s easy to forget about the physical world.

I also think that, for years, society has looked down upon the students pursuing trades over university educations; they are still often seen as second-rate or simply not smart enough to get a college degree. One of the consequences of this attitude is that?high-level skilled trade positions sit empty?while a survey of 1,000 Americans with a university or post-graduate degree reported that?25 percent are making under $30,000 per year. In addition,?communities are struggling to find enough skilled workers?to help keep their physical infrastructures up and running, especially after things like winter storms.

It’s time to change how we think about our built world and the people who work in it.

Let’s give our physical world the respect it deserves

As we all watch how AI and GPT evolve and affect our digital world, let’s be sure to stop and give our built world – and the people who create and maintain it – their due respect. It’s?unlikely that these technologies will fulfill all of the industry needs in the physical world?for at least the foreseeable future. They are more likely to be tools for humans to work more efficiently, smarter and safer, especially in highly physical industries like maintenance, manufacturing, construction and the skilled trades.

Technologies will likely support idea-generation stages, not on actual execution, and priorities should focus on developing solutions that can better protect human life. For example, technology developments should prioritize things like making the construction site safer or minimizing required maintenance in riskier environments.

It’s hard to say what the world will look like in the next several decades, but one thing I’m certain of: AI and GPT can never replace our need for human-to-human interactions. What makes all of us human is our desire for real personal and professional relationships, caring mentors, and in-person opportunities to connect with one another. No matter what happens, AI and GPT cannot deliver that in any real way.