Never Went to College
For every generation preceding the millennials, intellect was always linked to success. If you were knowledgeable and educated, you stood apart from the rest of the flock, and any well-read or university-trained individual was fast-tracked on the road to prosperity. If you proved you were smarter or could recite facts and information about your expertise, you were regarded highly and could ascend the career ladder with ease.
However, in modern society, anyone with enough money in their pocket to buy a smartphone can use the computing power of their device to unveil the mysteries of centuries of history, science, literature, and philosophy with just a single Google search. You don’t need to be an Einstein to reap the benefits of higher education, you just need to know how to use a computer. “Google has revolutionized access to information,” says the online teacher’s resource, TeAchnology. “It has changed the way people think of research and assimilating data, and this means a framework change in how education is approached by a whole new generation.”
Via u/vixi48
Search engines are an excellent tool that humans can use to further research and learn; oftentimes, post-research theories are born from synthesis that requires the human brain to analyze. However, as the use of artificial intelligence (aka AI) gets more integrated in Internet research, suddenly humans aren’t taking part in the synthesis process at all, AI is.
According to Dr. Mitra Madanchian, a professor of social science and technology at the University of Vancouver, “AI enhances research efficiency by automating tasks and improving data analysis.” Even so, the workforce can’t help but wonder if there will be a moment that artificial intelligence no longer needs human interaction to function. With seemingly infinite computation power at its disposal, there’s nothing standing in the way of AI to limitlessly improve. And that’s a little scary for those of us in the workforce who have built our careers on "replaceable" jobs.
Many of us get the feeling that our CEOs would gladly scrape a little extra wage expense from their year-end finance report if it meant replacing their diligent workforce with a bot.
Via u/bcrms_
Not every job is in danger, but apparently translators, sales reps, teachers, writers, web developers, and historians are on the chopping block now that generative AI tools are improving. As the demand goes down for jobs that a robot can easily manage, so does the morale of an entire workforce.
Luckily, we humans have something AI never will: Delicate emotions, deep-seeded trauma, inherent insecurity and thus, hilariously dark humor.
That Little Extra Something
While many of us in the workforce have felt the pressure of getting replaced by robot modules and AI for years, it’s finally starting to become a real possibility. However, to laugh away the pain of this prospect, people online are starting to catalog the uniquely human traits that no robot could mimic, highlighting our extensive emotional fragility, our creativity, our destructive habits, and other flawed nuances.
The clankers may be coming for our jobs, but there are a few small delights to which humans can cling. Could AI cry in the bathroom on their lunch break? Could AI drink five beers by noon on the weekend? Could AI make self-deprecating jokes to cope with job insecurity? I don’t think so.
Artificial intelligence could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, according to a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs, but that’s not stopping a scared workforce from turning to silly jokes on social media. Recently humans have decided to combat rising concerns about job security with a collaborative collection of human-specific skills, highlighting the most uncharming facets of humanity like addiction, laziness, and self-satisfaction. Funnily enough, the relatability of these posts is what’s giving them traction. We can all relate to human flaws more than we can relate to a humorless robot.
In a competition between humans and bots, humanity wins every time when it comes to volatile instability, and that’s a win we desperately need right now.
Via u/madsadnotgood
PIVOT!
Humans have always been good at one critical survival skill: Adaptation. Since mankind was using rock tools to break open coconuts and scratching flint to start fires, we’ve managed to use tools to our advantage, and AI is no different. While the rock hammer may have replaced a caveman’s previous coconut-opening technique, it opened a totally new opportunity for man.
In a technologically-run world that’s rapidly evolving, it seems like humans will be replaced and left to rot in the ruins of their snuffed careers, but on the contrary, artificial intelligence could never fully take the place of humans. Like in the instance where a photographer, Miles Astray won an AI photo contest with a real-life picture, reality and flawed nuance will always have a place in the expressive, artistic hearts of man.
SOURCE: Miles Astray, “F L A M I N G O N E”
Humans add that little extra spice to everything they touch, for better or worse. And while artificial intelligence is excellent at running modules, synthesizing data, and generating copy, oftentimes, it feels two-dimensional or dry. Some industries can thrive in this automation, while others desperately need a human component to prosper.
For now, AI may be accelerating the absorption of some intelligence-based careers, but humankind, as always, will pivot to use this tool for the betterment of society, improving research, expediting automations, and cutting out the middle man. Ultimately, if treated like an incorporeal robot butler, ChatGPT and other generative AI tools open more doors than they’re closing.
While it’s stressful to imagine a world where your career no longer exists, at least you’ll always have something AI never will: Flawed, messy, and beautiful humanity.
