AI will make humans’ role more important, not less

Everyone is talking about AI and here at Medley, we’ve been thinking about it constantly, too. A few months ago, our Co-Founder, Edith Cooper , joined a segment on CNBC to talk about how she thinks we should prepare for AI’s impacts on our jobs, society and communities.

The big question: Will AI eliminate the need for human beings in the workplace??

Edith believes the answer is no – and, conversely, the existence of AI actually makes human discernment more important than ever before. AI can currently generate an answer (and sometimes, a very good answer!) to your questions. AI is a powerful tool to help us collect and analyze data, too. But what’s still missing is the human skill of understanding how data interacts with real life. What’s missing is judgment.

In fact, we would argue that the numbers generated by AI are the least important part of the decision-making process that follows.

For example, if you were to ask AI to use historical data to predict who would be the right hire for a managing director or analyst position at any major organization, the answer would likely be that you had to go to one of five schools, be of one demographic, and present yourself in a certain way. That result is based on historical data, which has massive bias built into it.

We need human discernment to point AI tools in an unbiased direction. At this point, it would be downright dangerous to remove human beings from the equation.

As AI technology progresses, here’s how you can prepare for the many ways it may impact your career:

1. Invest in strategic thinking and decision making.

It’s likely that data gathering, spreadsheet work and generating analyses will be skills overtaken by AI. But so far, no technology can replace human judgment, listening and dialogue.

In traditional organizations, mentorship and apprentice culture has always been a key part of growth. Mentorship is all about teaching intuition and insight and as organizations adapt to AI, we hope to see more time spent investing in others to teach strategy, decision making and even mediation. That’s part of why we launched Medley in the first place.

2. Listen and learn.

Will AI develop judgment eventually? While it’s likely, we can’t know. But this is the key: As AI technology progresses, you must take the time to learn about how you can integrate AI into your daily work. It can be a beautiful tool to support efficiency and productivity. It is your job to pay attention, stay at the forefront of the learning curve and stay flexible.

3. Take responsibility.

Perhaps most importantly, we all need to be thinking about how to train AI to responsibly look at problems in an ethical, non-biased way, across every industry. Join conversations, read, and stay informed.

At Medley, we believe the future of AI depends on our humanity, rather than erasing the need for it altogether.

In short: We’re hopeful. So many of our clients are working hard to understand the best ways to interact with AI and grow it into a widely accessible tool without introducing bias in the workplace.

Your discernment is more important than it’s ever been.