‘AI’ is always mentioned in hushed tones as if it’s this wonderful thing thing, almost a deity. It’s so revered that few use the full term: Artificial Intelligence. Those ‘in the know’ rely on the abbreviation being sufficient.
I was at a coaching meeting the other night and the lady presenter referred to the threat posed by AI to coaching. As if the a pre-programmed set of questions or even a computer ‘learning’ through an algorithm could provide the very real human interaction involved in coaching. In fact it seems that many technologies are a threat to human existence yet few question how they actually improve our lives.
Take cars. they help us get places fast and save us the physical effort. But then those who notice the damage of a sedentary life style have to join a gym to get the physical exercise their bodies need. It’s the same with computers. They do all the boring adding up that we can’t be bothered to do but then we fill up our time playing games to engage our brains to ward off the effects of Alzheimers and an atrophying brain.
Clearly these examples are quite black and white, but I raise them to get you thinking. A friend of mine is so wedded to her GPS that she couldn’t find her way back to the car park to find her car without it.
I’m always amused by the idea that “technology will enable economies to grow and allow us more free time.” We’re busier now than we’ve ever been. We’re always attached to technology, driven by the need to stay on line. And yet that ‘busyness’ is less and less satisfying: we’re producing less. Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell of the Human Givens point out that one of the emotional needs we have is a sense of achievement. The John Lewis partnership recognizes that the purpose of an organization is to benefit its members and maintain their health and well being. It advertises its purpose as: The Partnership’s ultimate purpose is the happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business.
Most organizations think their role is to extract as much cash from everyone else. They employ technology to bypass the effort of engaging the human workforce. It’s through this fissure that technology is rushing in: not to make our lives better but to bolster a small elite at the expense of everyone else.
As I was contemplating the potential for AI to take over the world I was confronted with the image of a tsunami. Before the wave comes in the first thing that happens is the tide goes out. Several people in the 2002 tsunami actually started to wade out to sea. Ironically it was the primitive natives of a nearby island who all survived because they recognized the potential danger in the behaviour of the wildlife.
When has anything artificial been as good as the real thing? I just put it out there. In the mean time, and as our lives become more and more ruled by technology give me a call. Coaching is about giving you a listening ear and the time to listen to your own needs and aspirations. Drop me a line through the Facebook page Inflow Performance, the group page Breaking Free or the (which is undergoing some fairly major changes).