What sets us apart from AI

And why humans are so special

Karen Ercoli
DataDrivenInvestor

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Photo by Andy Kelly on Unsplash

Today’s job market in certain countries seems saturated with competent professionals flooding vacancies because of a global job shortage of “regular jobs”. The idea some have is that AI is progressively replacing humans, ridding them of jobs…and indeed it is, but not completely.

One of the big questions workers and professionals are trying to answer in this age of incredible technological progress, is whether our work will be substituted by Artificial Intelligence. The short answer is no and, well, the long answer is in the following lines.

In history, humans have been at the center of their jobs and many of these have been manually executed for centuries. We are now watching, as automation changes not only our job opportunities but also the way we work. The IT sector has grown exponentially and we are failing to keep up with its changes and to observe where opportunities are awaiting.

Artificial intelligence is an IT product created by humans to help us solve problems more quickly. Thanks to it, we can now calculate faster than ever before and tackle complex problems with a brain-power exceeding that of every human who has ever lived. AI can make machines move like humans and perform many mechanical tasks humans do every day.

So what makes humans unique and why won’t Artificial Intelligence take our place soon?

Humans can communicate with emotions and emotions cannot be learned by a computer. They can be recognized, someone might attempt to replicate them, but emotions are a free flow of feelings that humans have embedded into their brains and their hearts.

This makes us different. No calculation will take the place of emotions and no machine will be able to substitute us in roles where communicating is fundamental. Nowadays it’s vital to form great relationships with people, even in an era in which social media is so widespread. Our challenge lies, in fact, in utilizing technology to become better communicators and exploit all the possibilities IT opens up for us.

Is it really true that there are fewer jobs?

Not really. Jobs come and go.

The job market is evolving quickly and we should try to evolve with it. Non-formal learning is progressively taking the place of the traditional learning experience, teaching us that expensive degrees aren’t more valuable than self-learning. “Old” job roles are progressively disappearing but many new job roles are making their way into view. We don’t have fewer jobs, we simply have different jobs.

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