AI is another Competitor, not Your Counterpart

image courtesy: https://babelpr.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-friend-or-foe/

Yet another splash of the waves. The news is about AI. Again.

All along, the news beamed over the web had to stress this message to drive home the hard fact that machines are here to replace professionals.

It sounds so artificial. Want your business to boom, add on AI.

We can argue all day about the robots coming to the rescue, but replacing jobs altogether is something we can agree to disagree.

Industrialization introduced the concept of automation – the first of the threat to replace human workforce. Before computers became really personal, typist was a typical occupation. That has been taken over or obliterated by software. Weren’t the threat of AI perceived real then? Yes, just that the impact was less, and man moved on.

Today the business runs on a different lane. Cross-selling and upselling is rampant. Technology is making business thrive.  A cancer patient can know the course of treatment, courtesy not a doctor but a biotech company. So, software coding for cancer cure?  Well, Microsoft too has stated as its long term goals.

Wakeup call

At some point in time, we all tend to become complacent by becoming too comfortable at workplace – the cushion factor. And it takes something like that of a threat to shake us out of the comfort zone – competition is the ultimate threat. AI is another competitor, not your counterpart.

How did farming take place before the advent of tractor? More hands in the field, and more time to till. The tractor proved to be a game changer. Was it warded off as a threat to uproot livelihood?

Why is that robots would act as our replacement and wipe out employment? What happens if robots fail to function or malfunction? Even in the worst of cases, it’s the repetitive work that can be automated. What about creative?

All your bets on an algorithm. Then try this read. It might help you to revise your opinion. Nothing like your instincts.  And who is going to replace that as well?  Certainly not algorithms – which has its pros and cons.

AI and Writing

The writing is on the wall about man’s dependence on AI but not its dominance. In fact, word from the industry has hinted instead of competing, AI can utilize the service of the human mind to complement.

“When you talk to an AI chatbot, who do you think writes those professional, peppy responses?” was an interesting read. AI didn’t appear intimidating, rather impressing the significance of the mind power as if to suggest ‘ we can compete against each other and also co-exist.’