Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation

AI is better than humans at operating in stable environments, with static, well-defined rules and consistent inputs. On the other hand, humans are much better than AI at handling surprises, filling in gaps, or operating in environments with poorly defined rules or incomplete information.

“We call it the Boomer Remover,” he said. “The…Boomer…Remover?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. “I mean, that’s not the official name. But our clients have way too many old, overpaid middle-managers who aren’t really necessary anymore. Our platform lets them replace those people.”

The same principle will apply, the optimists argue, to professionals in all kinds of fields. Doctors will consult with machine learning models before diagnosing diseases, judges will use recidivism algorithms to inform their sentencing decisions, and journalists will apply human touches to machine-generated first drafts. In all of those instances,

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One AI expert put it to me this way: if you could write a user’s manual for your job, give it to someone else, and that person could learn to do your job as well as you in a month or less, you’re probably going to be replaced by a machine.

“If you find yourself working with, or under the direction of, a smart software system, it’s probably a pretty good bet that—whether you’re aware of it or not—you are also training the software to ultimately replace you.”

It’s easy to see how AI could tear us apart. But it’s also easy to see how it could unite us. Technology can force us to study ourselves, and figure out our own strengths and limitations. Machines can foster resilience and creativity, as we come up with new and creative ways to stay ahead. And AI and automation could bring us together, armed with n... See more

Machines, it turned out, could not offer an adequate substitute for human connection, or give us what we needed to get ahead. And maybe they never will.

But as I started reporting more on AI and automation, the message I heard from experts about the modern economy was, essentially, the exact opposite. These experts said that, in a highly automated economy, the most valuable skills and abilities were the ones that could distinguish workers from machines. Rather than treating ourselves as pieces of b... See more

“People need to understand that current AI—and the AI that we can foresee in the reasonable future—does not, and will not, have a moral sense or moral understanding of what is right and what is wrong,” Bengio said. “It’s crazy to put those decisions into the hands of machines.”