In the shadow of creative AI, what is uniquely human left?

Generative AI is rapidly changing the way people work and live. Through the transcription of language and the generation of written content, images and even music, gen AI is encroaching on domains previously considered 'uniquely human'. As the verbal and cognitive abilities of machines continue to evolve, an existential question has emerged: In the shadow of gen AI, what unique qualities will humans retain?

More than 50 years ago, Stanley Kubrick's seminal film 2001: A Space Odyssey The film gave audiences and society at large a first glimpse of the future of AI. In the film, a spacecraft's onboard computer communicates verbally with its human crewmates, performs all the technical aspects of the mission and even plays a friendly game of chess with one of the astronauts (and wins). At one point in the story, the computer – HAL 9000 or simply “Hal” – is remotely interviewed by a news reporter back on Earth.

Moments later, when the interview turns back to the crew, the reporter says he felt Hall show a sense of pride when he talked about his technical flaw. When the reporter asks if they think Hal is capable of experiencing emotions, the mission commander is skeptical.

“Well, he acts like he has real feelings… but whether or not he has real feelings, I don't think anyone can answer truthfully.”

More than half a century later, the ability to experience feelings and emotions are characteristics that – at least, so far – remain uniquely human.

Interestingly, unlike Hall's conversational abilities in a fictional setting, language was not something that computers did particularly well. Today, however, general AI has revolutionized natural language processing (NLP) tasks, including large language model (LLM)-driven language translation and sentiment analysis, and chatbots now respond to questions and commands. can understand and respond to them. In one particularly notable example, AI enabled a computer to pass the Turing test while simultaneously convincing multiple human judges that it was a person and not a machine.

Beyond the realm of technology

As general AI continues to automate human tasks without “feeling” any particular way about doing so, those of us alive may explore our other unique qualities that cannot be replicated by machines. are Along with emotions, attributes that make us uniquely human include imaginative creativity and original thinking, and complex problem solving that requires cognitive flexibility and intuition. It is also important to note how morality and ethics—which are outside the realm of a technology that does not have the experience of being a member of society—influence human decision-making.

The five human senses, and their associated extensive input into brain processes, provide another example of what might be considered uniquely human. As sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch are notoriously linked in humans to create an embodied experience, it is difficult to imagine technology that can replicate the uniquely human experience of this harmony of the senses. she does.

Delving deeper into the brain's amazing properties, the discovery of mirror neurons represents another human trait that technology has yet to reproduce. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an individual performs a specific motor act or experiences an emotion and when he observes the same or similar action or emotion in another individual. Sourced. First observed in primates, the actions driven by mirror neurons can be most simply described as “monkey see, monkey do.”

According to research published on mirror neurons by the National Institutes of Health, “From a functional perspective, action and observation are closely related processes, and … the ability to interpret the actions of others.” This requires the involvement of our own motor system.” These mirror neurons enhance our experience of empathy, competition, and teamwork, just to name a few examples. Although an LLM can sense what we are feeling, they do not feel it themselves.

A change in the mindset of organizations

Coupled with the increasing pace of gen AI and the troubling existential questions that come with it, humans are grappling with how to manage, control, and regulate AI technologies. Going forward, organizations will need to make choices when delegating tasks to AI technology.

According to McKinsey research, business leaders need to take a broader view of general AI's capabilities and “deeply consider its implications for the organization.” The results showed that many global executives shared the following sentiment: “We were behind in automation and digitization, and we've finally closed the gap. We don't want to be behind again, but we're not sure.” How to Think About Creative AI

Trying not to repeat the missed opportunities of the past, many organizations are approaching general AI cautiously. Companies that take advantage of gen AI will need to establish well-defined workforce implementation and utilization strategies to ensure responsible execution of their adoption roadmap. This will become increasingly important as new regulations are created to ensure that gen AI is used ethically, and standards are established to ensure data privacy and security. In short, organizations that have a legitimate stake in gen AI will be held accountable for how they develop and deploy it.

Just because of technology can do Do something…

Traditionally, technology has had a huge hand on what we think of as “work,” as 60% of job titles employed in 2018 did not even exist in 1940. As we look towards a world increasingly mediated by AI, it remains. It remains to be seen what new endeavors humans will take as AI remakes the 9-to-5 landscape. Going forward, governments, corporations, and organizations of all kinds will need to make important, conscious decisions about what will be outsourced to computers and what roles will remain in the human realm. It is important to consider this during the process: just because of the technology can do Doing something doesn't mean it should be done.

When futurists Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick teamed up in the 1960s to write a screenplay that placed AI at the center of its plot, little did they know how much their fiction would one day become. Will be dignified?

Richard Sonnen is Chief Data Scientist at BulkPlanView.