Are You Concerned About Losing Your Job?

Are you worried about a robot replacing your job? When I used to listen to the man versus machine debate, I’d picture creepy, manufactured robots walking awkwardly around the corporate halls. I would even imagine one trying to sit at my desk. In my mind, they were similar to the robot that Rocky Balboa gave to his brother-in-law, Paulie, in Rocky IV. The thought amused me, but so outlandish was the idea of robotic employment, I would quickly dismiss the notion out of hand. That was until I figured out that the robot at the center of the debate was not a clunky machine on legs, but an ingenious – and invisible – invention. 

Robots are machines designed to perform a task; how they look is irrelevant. In fact, more often than not, they don’t even have to be seen. The term ‘robot’ isn’t a reference to a physical replacement of an employee. The robot that is showing up at the office and working in the shadows sight unseen, goes by the name machine learning. It lives inside software, products that we rely on, and progressive companies’ technological architecture. The machine that Rocky gave Paulie needed external guidance, but the one infiltrating today’s workplaces mimics human intelligence and thinks autonomously.

Now, back to my opening question about you and your job. There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence is going to change the face of employment as we know it. It’s too late to fight the fact that the machine is coming to your office - that debate should’ve ended when machinery ushered in the Industrial Revolution. And I am happy it did. I’m really glad that I don’t have to work laboriously by hand or head into the fields every day to farm the land.

Machinery has changed the shape of jobs, and it is continuing to do so. Robotic activity is replacing humans by performing repetitive tasks, many of which, humans prefer not to do. The difference today, is that the machine can also learn on the job, putting at risk those who cling to their current work practices.

Drs. Erik Brynjolfsson from MIT and Tom Mitchell from Carnegie Mellon have analyzed a number of work tasks with the aim of identifying those that a machine can do better than a man. They focused on individual tasks not on jobs, instead repackaging tasks to create new jobs as required.

Their findings reflect an important point. Your question shouldn’t be will artificial intelligence replace jobs? It’s not man versus machine as the debate has been put forward. It is man and machine, and we need to focus on how they work together.

I’m obsessed with machines learning, humans leading. Artificial intelligence has the potential to amplify leadership and help you do more than you’ve ever dreamed possible.

As I’ve written before, the machine is simply better that you ever could be at gathering insights and making data-based predictions. The completeness and consistency of a machine’s ability to ingest huge volumes of data and garner insight, marks a powerful transformation. As a human, you’re only able to conduct limited workplace observation, and when you do, your attention is usually distracted. You observe an incomplete portion of your employees’ work, and unknowingly allow bias to guide what you take in. By contrast, when the Trigger-Task-Time algorithm runs on organizational time-stamped data, it is able to observe and derive insights from every minute of every hour worked.

One of the best analogies for understanding machines learning, humans leading, is what a professional tennis coach is to the player. The coach sees every detail—every swing, step and speed—and makes specific recommendations that will make the player better.

Machine learning is the next logical progression in both artificial intelligence and leadership science. Dismiss the idea of you versus the machine. The secret to success lies in embracing machines and drawing on their capabilities to become a better leader.

Printed originally in Gulf News (08 October 18)

A thinker, speaker, and writer to the core, Dr. Tommy holds a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University, and is the founder of EMLC where he is the region's leading CEO Coach. In addition to writing a number of books—including the Amazon #1 best-seller, Leadership Dubai Style and 10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East, Dr. Tommy is the editor-in-chief of Emerging Markets Business—The Authoritative Review.

Follow me on twitter @tommyweir or visit www.tommyweir.com for more of my thoughts on leadership.