Augmented vs. Artificial Intelligence: A Humanist Debate Shaping Our Future

How will automation and artificial intelligence shape the future of work, and the future of society at large?
Technology displaces jobs, economist John Maynard Keynes wrote in the 1930s, it doesn’t displace work. Yet drastic improvements in automation and artificial intelligence over the last decade or so, and recent wary comments from high-profile tech industry bigwigs like Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have stirred up anxieties that may soon morph into full-blown panic. Will robots take all the jobs?

Veteran New York Times technology writer John Markoff, who recently authored the book Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots, admits to helping fuel rising concern about AI and economic displacement in recent years, but he now sees the issue from a more Keynesian perspective. Machines are currently unable to “learn” in the human sense of the term, and Markoff believes that while the types of jobs people perform will change in the near future, jobs won’t disappear en masse. There are currently 140 million working Americans, more than ever before in US history, said Markoff. The “pie” is getting bigger, not shrinking.

Given that jobs will shift in ways that are impossible to foresee at this time, “one of the most valuable things to have in this economy is a liberal arts education,” according to Markoff. Individuals who benefit from a broad humanistic education may be better suited to pivot between different types of work over the course of their careers.

In this interview, Markoff discusses the divergent evolution of artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence, and how each could shape a different future of our society. “I think it’s possible to design these systems so that the human is at the center and the system has human values,” said Markoff. “That’s why I’m still optimistic. Humans are still in the loop at this point, and they’re going to stay in the loop. That gives us the ability to design these machines in ways that improve humans, rather than put them on the sidelines.”