It should get better soon...

The Five-Year Tornado

Our world has changed significantly over the past five years. It all began with the COVID-19 pandemic, where so many people have lost their lives, ended up in severe isolation, lost their jobs... Companies that did not survive, and a multitude of social and psychological issues that we are still trying to mitigate across every continent. Many people have yet to recover from the pandemic’s aftermath: The loss of loved ones, for some people - loss of jobs, and massive lack of faith in tomorrow have become a harsh reality for millions around the world. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

It didn’t end there; it only began. Numerous wars have engulfed almost every corner of the world: The war in Ukraine, numerous conflicts and war in the Middle East and Israel, tensions in the Asia-Pacific Region, and so on. These events have claimed an enormous number of lives, not to mention the mass migration, hunger, and impoverishment of the population. A significant impact has been the loss of ability to perform long-term planning, increasing challenges in social re-integration for many people, and a general lack of confidence about tomorrow.

The times when a simple handshake or a gentleman's agreement guaranteed the fulfillment of obligations, where responsibility was part of the DNA, unfortunately, are long gone. Basic human norms like “do not deceive” and “do not betray” have undergone substantial changes in modern society. Partly, this is due to a prevailing sense of social detachment and certain super-relaxed way to approach the world: If things don’t work out with one person today, someone new will appear tomorrow. "I owe no one anything" — this principle seems to define 2024 in that particular context.

Speaking about today’s youth — not universally, but substantially — they spend enormous amounts of time on social media, in the digital “cloud,” like “digital Mowglis,” watching and listening to influencers and bloggers (whose role is indeed essential in today’s world; please, don’t get me wrong, I respect and love good bloggers and influencers). The younger generation, again not universally, but substantially, believes that they, too, can become influencers or bloggers tomorrow, abstractly speaking. But here’s my question: Who will bake bread? Who will clean the streets? Who will milk the cows on farms or build airplanes if all the young people are gonna be on social media, endlessly posting? Rhetorical question, of course.

Where Are We Today?

That was just the warm-up. To summarize: Our world has fundamentally changed. We are in a state of global upheaval, wars, disruptions, and uncertainty about tomorrow. We are definitely experiencing challenges and reaping the results of the past decade, especially the past five years.

But history has always shown such cycles, whether it was the fall of the Roman Empire, World War II, or the collapse of the Soviet Union. These examples abound throughout history, but no one really remembers them anymore. Maybe just because many people today weren’t even born back then.

I won’t even go into economic consequences, social inequality, and the burdens that fall on many states nowadays. Employment centers are overwhelmed, and the labor market is far from ideal. Millions of people around the world will be fired by the end of this year due to public information and press-releases of many companies.

AI: Game Changer or Final Nail?

Let me say straight away: I am a humanist and an optimist, so my hope is for AI to be a game changer. I believe in AI, with some limits and requirements.

Artificial intelligence, which made quantum leaps in development during the turbulent year of 2024 (think back to early 2024, and now Halloween 2024), shows us this picture: On the one hand, every second social media post is either related to or even created with the help of AI. On the other hand, people are beginning to lose their jobs, and this trend will only accelerate in the coming months and quarters.

I’m not claiming that AI alone is responsible, as many companies have both diligent and competent specialists as well as lazy and irresponsible employees who will probably be the first to go home. But that’s not a given. And that’s another debate, unrelated to this topic.

AI applications today are growing like corn in a field, from audio processing and graphics to efficiency solutions for defense, space, big data, machine learning, and so on. However, for companies to understand the true value of AI, each company, the one producing plastic bottles, or diapers, or airplanes, or metal structures must realize that AI is merely a tool to improve manufacturing processes, product quality, and resource optimization, protect the environment, and stand strong for human values and human oversight and control. A dedicated AI department is urgently necessary for every company without exception (of course, AI Shared Service Centers and outsourcing would also be an acceptable solution for smaller companies). More on that later.

It is essential to understand that AI is just a tool, as were abacuses, PCs in the latter half of the 20th century, and the internet and social media at the century’s end and at the beginning of the 2000s. All these quantum leaps were simply tools. People were always in focus. And these leaps were all for the benefit of people, not just for "flashy videos" or "AI-generated images." What’s the point if we have AI to hand out toilet paper and make sushi? Where will the rice and cellulose come from? Will AI generate those too? Or will it be human hands and labor behind? Of course, I’m exaggerating here, but I do so on purpose to grab your attention.

And the main question, which we rarely ask or pretend to ask: What kind of legacy will we leave our children and their grandchildren? At the very least, to our children, for the next 45-60 years?

Immediate Actions for Companies

I suggest that all businesses, from small to large, establish an AI department today or tomorrow morning, with an experienced leader and begin hiring a competent team. Let me explain why:

1. To give people a perspective: hard-working and curious employees can transition to a new department in case they lose their job in their current role. This is a humane decision. As for the lazy and dishonest guys, they can stay at home. Whether with AI or without AI, that won’t change.
2. So that companies don’t fall behind the overall progress. Today, many operate on technologies from the 2000s and 2010s, while the world has moved forward. Companies need to keep up with AI to avoid hasty conclusions and mistakes from a lack of understanding of the AI technology, including cybersecurity threats, fraud, and systemic risks. Companies cannot afford to miss the chance to develop new products, explore new business areas, distribution channels, whatever. An AI Department will require people — not AI, but people on their end, would be able to develop and implement AI wisely and humanely.
3. AI should not replace and eradicate people, as in the movie Terminator with Skynet; rather, it should help companies grow, create more opportunities, and increase the amount of workload and create new jobs. It sounds paradoxical, but consider this: More AI means more work and more jobs for people! This is the outcome we should all aim for.
4. Sitting on the sidelines won’t work. Companies can’t ignore AI and say it doesn’t interest them yet. “Too early” is a foolish and shortsighted excuse. AI is already here.
5. And perhaps most importantly: AI is just a “calculator,” a “hammer,” a “plate,” a “piano.” As some might say, “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” Data for AI must be carefully prepared in advance so that companies don’t just hang a pretty “AI literacy certificate" but end up with garbage that doesn’t help business or people. And all this while spending millions of $ and laying off hundreds of capable and talented people. We need to start working on that topic today, to avoid being swept away by the wave into the ocean and sink. I’m talking about both companies and people.

I sincerely believe and hope that AI will be used correctly by people and for people, that this “Five-Year Tornado” will end, and that everyone willing to work will get a job, using AI for the prosperity of our planet. And maybe we’ll even be heading to Mars soon. But that’s out of my competence.

Written by hand. From the bottom of my heart. Without AI.