Machines Are Not Replacing Us Anytime Soon

Preparing for the fourth industrial revolution

“Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Heb 10:25

ChatGPT is the latest in the long list of AI phenomena. It is all around us, from handheld devices to features in our cars and chatbots; AI dictates how we live, work and play.

?When I started working in telecommunications over 20 years ago, having a 24-hour manned call centre service was a competitive advantage. Now, the emergence of chatbots has evened the customer service playing field while CFOs are smiling to the bank with the resulting cost efficiencies.

?Yes, that is just one of many areas where machines are performing tasks that were once the sole preserve of us – humans. I was in awe at the sight of the “smart police station” in Dubai. A few months ago, I bought a sandwich I did not need so I could try my hands on the cashier-less, grab-and-go store in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. AI is here to stay and advancing at an exponential pace.

?In 2016, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, dubbed this phenomenon “the fourth industrial revolution.”

?“We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another.”

?Again, the WEF described the transformation of work in one of its recent reports, saying, “Nearly a third of the most important skillsets in 2025 will be comprised of technology skills not yet considered imperative to the job today.”

?However, an extraordinary experience recently made me question the veracity of this prediction or at least the man-vs-machine debate.

?“Regardless of technology or innovation, people are still people. And all the rules of humanity still apply.” – Simon Sinek’s Notes to Inspire.

?COVID-19 forced us to embrace telecommuting, and Teams and Zoom meetings became commonplace. Online collaboration tools took a different level of significance in how we worked. And then, post-COVID, we questioned if we would ever go back to the traditional ways of working.

?With three years of telecommuting experience in Dubai, Johannesburg and Freetown, I subscribed to the school of “Telecommuting is here to stay.” But, I had to rethink my position after a recent visit to my station in Kabul, Afghanistan.

?No machine could replicate the warmth of the welcome and the energy I felt at every meeting. My driver’s broad smile and warm embrace were more than I could put into words. For five days, every morning, I took in the soothing smell of the welcome bouquet I received on the first day of my return. A colleague gave me a thoughtful ornament that touched my heart. The grocery store owner instantly recognised me and welcomed me into his store with a long hug no machine could give. He let me pay later as I did not have enough local currency.

?My team and I accomplished two weeks’ work in five days because we could do some tasks faster in person than remotely. And there was more soul to our meetings. The impact of the human touch was evident.

?But, watching BBC Click’s presenter Spencer Kelly reminded me of the debate when he said, “The phones are taking over, the robots are doing the cooking, and, well, humans are just sitting around.”

? So, should we fear the future of AI in the workplace? I am excited about the future of work because machines and AI will complement the human factor to improve the value of work. We may argue that machines will no take over from humans because they lack emotions, do not have soft skills, and humans make machines work. But we will be better off learning how to work with AI and how the new wave of technology will make us work better and be more productive.

Here are the five ways I will be preparing to remain relevant in the “fourth industrial revolution that I think you should also consider:

?1)????Keep abreast with technological developments and understand their benefits

We often fear what we do not know or understand. Reading the below books is a good starting point for learning about AI, robots and automation.

2)????Upskill

Develop skills through formal and self-paced learning required to develop strategic thinking skills that cannot be automated. We will need to be ready for the new and complex demands of the future workplace.

3)????Embrace tools and technology that will increase productivity

Automating routine tasks will free up time to engage in more value-adding activities. For example, I encourage my team to automate bank reconciliation to save time for working capital planning and management.

4)????Continuously improve EQ

So far, our ability to express emotions is our main difference from machines. Thus, developing the ability to recognise and manage will be critical to surviving the 21st-century workplace.

5)????Prepare to lead with purpose

Leaders must prepare their teams and organisations by creating a culture of automation – finding opportunities to automate and transform the way we perform standard repetitive tasks.

According to McKinsey Global Institute’s James Manyika and Kevin Sneader, “There is work for everyone today, and there will be work for everyone tomorrow, even in a future with automation. Yet that work will be different, requiring new skills and a far greater adaptability of the workforce than we have seen.”

?Let us prepare to face the future of AI with anticipation and excitement, not apprehension or fear.

Two (2) Book recommendations

The best way to prepare for what’s coming is to learn about it. These two books from Forbes magazine’s 6 Best Books on Artificial Intelligence could be the best place to start.

a)???A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond.?by Daniel Susskind

“The book focuses on how this changing technology might transform our relationship with work. It takes a close look at how AI could eliminate some jobs and warns that there is a real chance "technological unemployment" could occur.”

b)???AI 2041: 10 Visions for Our Future by Chen Qiufan and Kai-Fu Lee

“It discusses everything from job reallocation to virtual companions and more via stories that highlight the impact AI could have. It warns of new risks that the technology will pose while reminding readers that humans are in charge of shaping these advances.”

Three (3) Citations

Here are three quotes to help us rethink the impact of AI on work.

“Humans need and want more time to interact with each other. I think AI coming about and replacing routine jobs is pushing us to do what we should be doing anyway: the creation of more humanistic service jobs.” – Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO, Sinovation Ventures

“Our research says that 50% of the activities that we pay people to do can be automated by adapting currently demonstrated technologies. We think it’ll take decades, but it will happen. So there is a role for business leaders to try to understand how to redeploy talent. It’s important to think about mass redeployment instead of mass unemployment. That’s the right problem to solve – Michael Chiu, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute

“The countries with the highest robot density have among the lowest unemployment rates. Technology and humans combined in the right way will drive prosperity” – Ulrich Spiesshofer, ex-CEO, ABB Ltd