Technology can only be as human as we are able to be

Technology is a historical construct. And the quality that makes it enduring is its adaptability in changing contexts. The impact of artificial intelligence will be great. It will increase productivity and have social consequences. Luca De Biase

Technology, innovation and shifting cultural norms have always fuelled a turnover in workforce composition. Machines have been taking our jobs for centuries. Yet, today, we assist to a faster pace at which machines increasingly replace humans in performing tasks in and outside the workplace. It feels like experiencing a scenario from a Sci-Fi film where the march of technology and artificial intelligence becomes more powerful than humans, seeking to assert control over mankind. Today it is no longer fiction. It is the reality of our lives as companies increasingly use robots on production lines or algorithms to optimise and carry out core business functions.

"We thought machine learning only worked for specialised applications, but we were surprised to find that it is very adaptable. Which can generate major transformational leaps. There will also be societal effects: with increased inequality and thus a slowdown in growth. Everything must be done to improve people's ability to work through the transformation and pay them more: the only sensible form of wealth redistribution that will be generated by the increased productivity due to artificial intelligence is through better jobs and better pay." David Autor

We tend to focus on what robots can do, more than how we will work alongside them. A new dynamic in the workplace. Authenticity, inclusion and embracing diversity will take on fresh meaning as new policies, guidelines, values, behaviours and ways of working. Working in this new and hybrid way requires (even more) complex decisions, creativity and systemic regenerative leadership.

When we apply mechanistic images to humans, we become, like the assembly line, passive, unemotional and fragmented, discounting and denying our human capacities. The complexity of modern systems cannot be understood by our old ways of separating, rearranging, doing. In a complex system, highly inter and intra connected we need instead new ways of being. We must start to value the journey of a human, the human personal struggle for achieving something great. It’s that human journey and struggle that makes us a human (and differentiates us from a machine).

The greatest challenge will be for everyone of us not only to embrace this change but lead it in the direction of progress for all humankind.

We are our only hope for creating a future worth working for. We can't create it through technology only and without relying on our integrated, inclusive and precious creative humanity.

Technological advancement must be designed to assist humanity. If we do so, for example, as we build more automated systems we need to focus on maintaining human autonomy, safety and dignity.

Technology must be transparent. This means that not only businesses have data and knowledge about people but that people have insight into businesses and the systems they operate under.

Technology must have the goal to maximise efficiencies without destroying the dignity of people. We need broader, deeper, and more diverse engagement of populations in their design.

Technology can only be as human as we are able to be.

We need to embody empathy, integrity and creativity to design technologies that support humankind evolution.

It is through empathy we differentiate ourselves from a robot. It is through empathy we build trust.

Integrity, in the sense of feeling complete, whole and from that place of integrity bridge the rational with the emotional and those apparent paradoxes that pull as apart.

Creativity, a competence of being (not doing) to guide us to resolve.

May all of us, and the technologies we design, be (and become) an ecology for good and re-generation.

If you’re interested in learning more about RNEWB services and would like to discuss any consultancy, workshops, and talks, drop us a line at fateme@rnewb.com.

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