A.I. literacy begins now in order to harmonize with intellect and eventually allow for human transcendence. “The combined intellect of people and machines working in harmony is able to achieve outcomes that are better than either can accomplish alone”- is a very powerful statement from author David Shrier, in his new book, Augmenting Your Career. An even more provocative rabbit hole is imagining the collaborations in the near future for producing beneficial outcomes for society. This podcast is important for ushering in the new era of A.I. acceptability in the commonplace and preparing the future workforce for inevitable changes.

Organizations are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence for different aspects of their work. This trend will increase in the world until what some consider 99% of all jobs today will no longer exist. That’s a lot to digest and can even cause collective anxiety with what our purpose is when there’s no work to be done. What exactly can artificial intelligence achieve? A.I. is good at quantitative and repetitive tasks. That leaves hands-on jobs like massage therapists, doctors, waiters, and creative professions that require emotional intelligence for their businesses still hallmark positions in demand. Everything else may need to change! Even writers and authors may be replaced by A.I. David Shrier surprisingly admits a chapter of his new book is penned by an AIAuthor after being given one sentence as a prompt. Even more surprising, it’s pretty darn good! Soon leaders will celebrate the synergy between human creativity and A.I. power, leading the world into an unknown future if safe protocols are not established. 

A striking recent technological intervention into the American electoral process threatened democracy and serves as a clear example of how A.I.-powered social network, Facebook,  played its part in reducing collective intelligence. This lead to the rise of polarized sections of users receiving disproportionately tailored pieces of information that played upon their inherent biases. So if A.I. tech was behind that, we need to improve upon the low bar having been set. The event should serve as a clear case for ramping up A.I. protocol safeguards to protect the integrity of the technology. What if we could unlock the collective potential of people? Collaborative projects and open-sourced initiatives are a clear path forward for using A.I. in a way to support collective prosperity. 

The importance of A.I. guardians cannot be understated. Different cultures vary in their agreeability to basic fundamental moral principles, but moving forward A.I. should strive to do better. In 2019 Luciano Floridi and Josh Cowls published “A Unified Framework of Five Principles for AI in Society”. The 5 common ethical principles they found that should be built into A.I. systems designs are: Beneficence (Promoting well being, preserving dignity, and sustaining the planet), Non-maleficence (Privacy, security, and ‘capability caution’), Autonomy (The power to decide), Justice (Promoting prosperity, preserving solidarity and avoiding unfairness), and Explicability (Enabling the other principles through intelligibility and accountability). Adding explicability to the principles adds ‘intelligibility’ and ‘accountability to the list of priorities for the A.I. system. That is akin to questioning how it works and who is responsible for the ways it works?

Today technology professionals in social media services are being questioned by the US Congress about their role in the events that lead up to the Capital Insurrection and misinformation about COVID-19 Vaccinations. CNN reports that “Opaque algorithms that prioritize user engagement and promote misinformation also came under scrutiny”. While the current leaders in A.I. rollout in society are limited to the scope of people that have the money to do research and development in the field, a profit-driven A.I. may miss the unique ability of human transcendence. There is way more potential within a benevolent A.I. that focuses on collective consciousness prosperity and national harmony for its citizens. Both A.I. and society need better leadership. 

The place where this technology coupled with human intelligence in order to produce outcomes beyond the capacity of either individual entity is on the horizon. David Shrier joins Stan Stalnaker at the Hub Culture Campus for Innovation The Chronicle Discussions, Episode 39: Take Me To Your Leader - A.I. and You