Why humanity, and not AI, is the ‘5th element’ of organisations

There have been a lot of big-budget sci-fi films made over the last few years. But Luc Besson’s 1997 hit The Fifth Element—bold, extravagant, exquisitely costumed by Jean Paul Gaultier—is still one of a kind. Every detail is thought through to perfection and depth.?

The premise is pretty simple, it’s the 23rd century and an evil cosmic force hurtles towards Earth, sucking in everything in its path. Earth’s only hope is Leeloo (a canonically perfect supreme being played by Milla Jovovich), who comes crashing through the roof of Bruce Willis’s taxi. Together, they have to find and channel the power of the 4 elements with the mysterious fifth, which is… (it’s barely a spoiler) representative of humanity itself.

The continuing relevance of humanity in a high-tech future is the message at the beating heart of all science fiction. But that message comes through especially strongly in a film that’s so joyful, gleefully excessive and relies so much on personal charisma, off-beat humour, high fashion, and unexpected moments of (operatic) beauty.?

AI couldn’t make this film.

And these days, that’s the question we find ourselves asking more and more. What can’t AI do?

One way or another, all organisations are wrestling with the question of how advancing tech and artificial intelligence will transform their business and their industry.?

AI is already automating routine tasks, driving data-driven decision-making, and facilitating better collaboration. AI is progressing from at best augmenting our abilities to automating them. Hyper-automation, with multiple automation solutions working together seamlessly, which we covered in a previous blog, is also on its way. Cross-machine collaboration is already here and will evolve. As Alfred North Whitehead wrote back in 1911, “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations we can perform without thinking about them.”

All this is going to have a profound effect on organisational structure and design. Automation will reshape job roles, requiring fewer people for certain tasks and creating new roles for integrating and overseeing AI systems, aka ‘humans in the loop’.?The demand for advanced technical skills as well as soft skills like creativity, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and problem-solving will likely increase.??

At the same time, the rising role of data in decision-making will likely alter the dynamics of strategic and managerial roles too.

But these skill requirements will only be met if the right training and upskilling, talent acquisition and development strategies are in place. Businesses can’t just invest in new tech, new tech, new tech and expect these human skill sets to be met as if by magic. Human adoption, use cases, application, impact, ethics and inclusion are also important.

When it comes to organisational structure, the picture isn’t quite so clear. AI will continue to advance at pace. Quantum computing will rapidly accelerate the speed of processing and execution. The scale and speed of workforce redistribution is contentious. Skills selection processes will become smarter and smarter. AI will be an amazing facilitator and enabler for all cross-functional teams and will be reflected as a ‘member’ on the organisational charts. Imagine more seamless collaboration along with more efficient processes and remote working capabilities. Some organisations might become smaller with concentrated oversight. Others might go the other way, shifting towards more flexible, network-based organisational models like DAOs. Businesses will also have to think very carefully about what these changes mean for organisational culture.

What AI cannot do, and humans must, is absolutely ensure that this is managed responsibly.?

We have to learn from history. As Professor Ryan Abbott pointed out in his 2020 book on AI and the law, “Our legal system has not historically done the best job of limiting harm caused by technological disruption”*.? In major technological advances in the past, there has been a collective failure across governments and industries to equip the workforce for incoming changes. This includes the desperate need to anticipate and make timely social and regulatory changes. We can see this new industrial revolution coming, so we should be preparing now to build the kind of working world we want to share. That means giving careful thought and planning to inclusive growth, skill development, ethical considerations, and the well-being of the workforce.??

From uncanny AI selfies and IP breaches to the threat of deepfakes, there’s plenty about AI that feels unsettling because it seems to threaten trust and even what it means to be human. In a more whimsical example—one software company recently created software that artificially maintained eye contact on video calls. The unnerving results could not be said to improve communication… We need to use the appropriate technology for the right use cases for humans rather than play with every shiny new toy, and we need to think very carefully about the potential for misuse.??

It’s perhaps an obvious point but an important one. Machines still need us. Machines need our frameworks and rules in which they can operate responsibly. Being human is not a disadvantage, nor existentially under threat. With powerful tools in our hands to do good in the world, the age of technology might yet allow us to act with more humanity than ever before.?

Which brings us back to our 23rd century heroes…By themselves, the four elements couldn’t save Earth. They had to be channelled by the pure-hearted Leeloo. And even she took a bit of convincing of why it was all worth it. The parallels here are clear.?

People feel very troubled at the prospect of AI making humanity obsolete.?The ironic thing is that in many ways we’ve never been less so. As the tools at our disposal get more and more powerful,?humanity and compassionate human intelligence are of the absolute highest importance to drive us and all our new technology, into a future we want to be part of.

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*Abbott, R. (2020) ‘Introduction: Artificial Intelligence and the Law’, in The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p17.

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