Everyone talks about how AI would eventually replace most of us, but there isn’t much guide on exactly how they would take over our jobs. If most of our positions are susceptible to the advance of artificial intelligence, how would that reshape our workplace? Most importantly, what would be humans’ job in the future where AI is as common as personal computers now?
I contacted Junghoon Woo, a data scientist with 10+ years of experience, for an answer. His blog on digital transformation and artificial intelligence caught my eyes, for his ability to write clearly for non-expert readers.
This article was pitched as a detailed guide into how digitally-transformed workplace would change human employees’ role in most companies. It aims at providing a clear perspective to the incoming changes of our workplaces and a guide to working with AI.
Below are the translations of the book’s introduction, table of contents and foreword.
Introduction
What is the role of human employees in workplaces run by artificial intelligence?
Human labor would not be replaced; it will evolve.
Artificial intelligence is no longer limited to assembly lines but is spreading to our offices. The author claims, however, that human labor will not be replaced but will evolve to the next level. A.I.s are going to take care of repetitive, routine tasks, while human workers spend most of their time approving A.I.’s work and guiding it to be more effective. Hundreds of corporations around the world are already digitalizing the entire work process, a first step toward adopting artificial intelligence. This article looks closely into what human workers need to focus on in order to work with A.I.s and what business will look for in their hires.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Imagining the future of offices
Artificial intelligence training itself
Easier collaboration between departments
Part 2: Work done by AI, confirmed by humans
The flexible problem-solving skills of humans
The paradox of work process optimization
Part 3: AI solutions seeping into daily office life
Automation of customer relations management, IT and HR departments
Pandemic accelerating digital transformation
Part 4: Human boss teaching, AI learning
The advent of data warehouses
Data governance: a bedrock for AI systems
Part 5: You no longer “do” your work. You think about it.
Finding bottlenecks in the work process
Insights shared with transparency
Part 6: The future of ideal human talent
Data literacy
Decide, lead and innovate
Part 7: From hard-working employee to innovating strategist
The change is already here
Planning and strategizing are everyone’s job
Foreword: Contemplating the Essence of Human Labor
On March 27, 2020, Microsoft fired 27 news editors and introduced an AI system. I thought only humans can sort through information and determine the importance of news, but I was wrong; now AIs skim through news articles, analyze readers’ real-time reactions in various social media and update the MSN news page in real time. They greatly outperform human editors in speed and efficiency. Google is now trying to find ways to bring AI into news writing as well.
Human work in journalism, however, is irreplaceable when it comes to storytelling. Only fellow humans can fully understand and deliver stories of other human beings. A.I.s cannot cover stories that trigger human emotions, making readers angry, sad or rejoice from reading. They cannot touch upon human emotions but only imitate the art of writing after compiling pieces of facts. The Guardian column allegedly written by the natural language processing system GPT-3 required the editing process of human journalists before hitting the publishable grade.
My passion for journalism also stems from sparkling joy of running into new people, learning and empathizing from their experiences. Ironically, GTP-3 and the artificial intelligence for MSN news clearly demonstrate the role of human editor and reporters: construing stories through which allow readers to live vicariously and to empathize fully with others’ experiences. I hope this article works as a chance to look back on the essence of your job. No matter what industry you are in, I am confident that the essence of it is reserved for humans, unable for A.I.s to peep over.
