Is there anything we cannot automate, thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality? We already interact frequently with chatbots when we need to ask a company a question or perform a relatively simple ask. But some jobs cannot be automated. Some tasks just can’t be relegated to technology.
…Right?
Automation Invasion
Like surgeons! ...Well, in the next few years, jobs here will decline by 2% thanks to robots.
Ok, how about farmers? Surely they need to be out in the fields and in the barns? ...The “cultured meat” (i.e. lab grown) industry will cut human-performed work significantly in the next decades.
Eateries? People—real people—still need to cook and serve! ...Over half of restaurants plan on integrated automated technology. One pizza place in Seattle uses AI and robots to make 300 pizzas in one hour. It would take five or six employees working at 100% capacity to do the same. You can even automate the writing of a blog on the risks of automation with AI platforms like ChatGPT.
Why not automate friendship while we’re at it! ...AI tools like Replika, Chai, Kuki, and Anima help people enjoy companionship, combat loneliness, and chat as they would with a buddy.
In the world of work, automation can help improve productivity and performance, enhance safety, achieve cost efficiencies, and reduce human error.
But what about those humans? Remember that there are real people behind these statistics:
- By 2025, time spent on current work tasks by humans and machines will be even.
- In the same period, automation will disrupt some 85 million jobs.
- Automation is predicted to lead to the elimination of 73 million jobs – and the creation of 58 million “jobs of tomorrow.” (Source)
- Companies expect that approximately 40% of workers will need “reskilling” (six months or less) and 94% of employers expect their people to pick up new skills on the fly. (Source)
All of this has created a highly fraught work environment in which uncertainty often seems like the only certainty. But automation also creates opportunity.
The Opportunity
Automation of routine and repetitive tasks (ok, tedious!) can be a powerful tool we leverage in order to better engage with our leadership qualities. To practice and grow in how we interact with and make a difference to people. Going back to our earlier automation examples: If a robot can complete certain surgical procedures, ideally, this would leave the medical professional with more time and capacity to provide the all-essential “human touch” to patients. This cannot be automated.
Compassion and empathy cannot be automated, nor can trust.
We cannot automate that which is emotional, human, and vital to a healthy, thriving workplace: vulnerability, accountability, and change. When integrating AI, AR, and VR tech into your company, shift the thinking. Instead of asking “What can AI do?”, try “What should humans do that AI shouldn’t?” If the objective is to increase productivity or enhance efficiency, there are tasks and responsibilities that AI can do. That doesn’t mean it should. Can a robot comfort a scared patient? An AI program empathize with an upset customer? A chatbot reassure and recognize an employee who may be struggling?
Perhaps even more troubling are the consequences:
- If AI handles tasks that, really, should be left to people, what are the consequences for the customer or client?
- What if they are not experiencing and interacting with a real human being?
- What are the consequences to the team, collectively and individually?
- What are the consequences for you as a leader?
- What are the consequences to the physical planet we all call home? (AI has a massive impact on natural resources and the environment)
For leaders who are after engagement, growth, and people, the consequences are massive: if you take away the human, you take away the relationship. For customers and clients who cannot find a human through all the AI, the opt-out is easy. They’ll find someone they can connect with.
Thinking through these big questions is vital as the integration of technology impacts our workplace. Do you know what you bring beyond a task, or beyond assigning tasks? One of the truest human elements is vulnerability: Vulnerability is at the core of human connection. It is about letting yourself be known, prioritizing the knowing of other people beyond the surface, and making personal connections. We open ourselves up. While there is a misconception that vulnerability is a weakness or implies incompetence, it is, in reality, quite the opposite.
The process and journey of vulnerability cannot be automated, and it cannot be rushed. As AI frees up the hands/mind/processes of tasks, there is more space to engage in health-bringing practices that will flow throughout your organization, like vulnerability. The very act of fostering human connection in spaces fraught with power imbalances and divisions of labour is a game-changer. And it cannot be automated, nor should it.
Smart Integration
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. Automation can make many aspects of our businesses work more seamlessly, efficiently, safely… and yes, profitably. But we cannot substitute technology for emotion or empathy. We cannot rely on robots to offer compassion or connection.
With a brave new world on the horizon, and at our fingertips, let’s ask: What can AI do for us? And what do we need to do for ourselves? This question, hopefully, brings into clearer view what we do as the leaders—that we have to be excellent at the human pieces, because these are the irreplaceable skills our companies, our employees, and our customers need from us. You can’t automate that.
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