Forget About Artificial Intelligence for a Minute: Consider the Possibilities of Augmented Intelligence

I will resist the urge to write a couple of paragraphs about fearing the robot apocalypse, however I will offer this to temper any fears you might have that apocalyptic future is nigh. Let me offer a bit of proof it isn’t: consider the entertaining but nearly nonsensical

My point is simple — while automation has decreased the number of people needed in such endeavors as manufacturing, retail and telemarketing, it is unlikely we will see that same kind of disruption that allows replacement of up to 75–99% of the people component currently employed in thought and knowledge sectors any time soon. On the horizon are exponential increases in human productivity as we see increasing adoption of intelligent machine technology, if we don’t let nostalgia, fear of change, and fear of the technology itself inhibit adoption.

Artificial vs. Augmented Intelligence — What is the Difference?

Similar conceptually and in some practical terms, there is one big differences between these two types of intelligence technology.

In the simplest of terms — artificial intelligence (AI) is independent of ‘us’ and would require no humans to perform human-like tasks. We haven’t achieved AI, although we are making great advances, and I am willing to bet that I will see true artificial intelligence in my lifetime. I am also sure we will see many iterations billed as artificial intelligence that will have an asterisk — we will call it artificial intelligence and it will look and feel like the real deal, but it will in fact be augmented intelligence (AugI) as someone is behind the curtain and controls; parameters and morality will have been inputted by humans.

Behind all of the current and near-future AugI — there are people causing, creating and entering controls into the program. It may learn, but that learning is guided by humans in every non-experimental environment that you and I will encounter the technology.

Where we need to focus is where we are now and in the near future — in a world where augmented intelligence is being developed at a breakneck speed. Augmented intelligence is becoming more common place and I think 20 years from now it will be ubiquitous at home, at work, and at play.

Back to Work Via Augmented Intelligence

A natural alignment for artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence is with robotics, and I don’t offer any argument opposing the notion that huge swaths of current jobs will be eliminated as many jobs done by people who perform rote, repetitive and exact tasks are being automated out of existence.

However, as we automate, AugI technology will allow workers to work in new, novel ways. Imagine that same displaced blue-collar worker you just pictured using augmented reality in the form of real-time, on demand information. Imagine instant access to virtual step-by-step guides that would allow a worker with little to no training to perform a myriad of tasks and repairs on unfamiliar machines or technology. Workers can be agile and broadly employable because there would be as much value in being a flexible generalist as a highly trained or single subject expert, and specialization will become less common. A workforce of polymaths armed with visualized information at their fingertips would have a broader capability of outputs than the whole of the current blue collar workforce. Augmented reality headsets are no longer the stuff of science fiction!

Consider the advantage of working in tandem with powerful algorithms who can take a great human idea and extrapolate it in a tiny fraction of the time it would take by using human brain power alone. As an extension of our own powerful minds, augmented intelligence could be applied to create advances we may never have achieved on our own, or at least speed up the time lapse till we get where we need to go.

I believe that technology, automation and augmented intelligence will revolutionize both ‘work’ and what the ‘workplace’ looks like. I am comfortable with predicting that about half of all the jobs in modernized nations today will be only found in the history books and classic movies in 40 to 50 years. The landscape of how we earn a living will change dramatically, but those jobs will be replaced by an adaptable workforce with skillsets we can only currently imagine. And it will happen sooner than most people think.

AugI to Help the Human Worker — Now, Not Later

Think widespread AugI is a foreign concept and you might be completely left behind? You may fear that you can’t learn this new technology and won’t benefit from it, but in fact suffer loss due to it. Perhaps you should think again — have you asked Alexa or Siri or Google to assist you in a task? Ever? Today? In the last hour? You likely have. And there is a myriad of other ways you have adapted to AugI. Consider how we have embraced augmented intelligence …in things ranging from our email spam filters to your Google Maps app… and how they have been widely embraced in our homes, in society and as part of the devices in our pockets. What kind of productivity could we achieve if we incorporate more widespread AugI into workplaces of all kinds?

While adapting to AugI use in our personal lives has been swift, most workplaces are lagging in their adoption of intelligent technologies and I would argue that if you run a business that is still dependent on legacy technology, then it is time to shit or get off the pot. With the current speed of innovation, there is often little value in holding on to the ‘way you have always done it’. Even tools that we use that are purported to be automation tools are often at their core only project management and digital execution tools. Adoption of augmented intelligence technologies could transform the workforce, for the individual contributors, companies and entire industries. In nations with a slowing labor force growth rate such as the US and many European countries, increased productivity through technology could allow us to do more, do it better and do it with fewer ‘worker bees’. In nations and areas with explosive population growth and the problems that accompany it, they could realize gains in productivity and resource preservation necessary to deal with the strains of a ballooning number of people.

One could argue that once true AugI adoption starts occurring across workplaces, those who don’t quickly follow suit will not be able to compete and will quickly be left behind. Are you and your company ready to embrace these technology-driven changes?

Carissa cares about this stuff because she is a totally into IT, AI, and machine learning, and digs reading about this technology. Plus, this is the type of stuff she ruminates about when she mows her lawn. Until the AI robots can mow it for her, just the way she likes it.