What remains uniquely human in the shadow of generative artificial intelligence?

Generative AI is rapidly changing the way people work and live. By replicating language and generating written content, images, and even music, generational AI is entering domains previously considered “uniquely human.” As verbal and cognitive capabilities of machines evolve, an existential query arose: what unique characteristics will humans retain in the shadow of artificial intelligence?

More than 50 years ago, Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking film gave audiences and society one of the first glimpses into the future of artificial intelligence. In the film, the spacecraft’s onboard computer verbally interacts with crew members, handles all technical facets of the mission, and even plays (and wins) a friendly game of chess with the astronaut. At one point in the story, the computer – HAL 9000, or simply “Hal” – gives a distant interview to a reporter from Earth.

Moments later, when the interview returns the focus to the crew, the reporter says he had the impression that Hal was showing pride when he talked about his own technical impeccability. When a reporter asks if they think Hal is capable of experiencing emotions, the mission commander is dubious.

“Well, he acts like he has real emotions… but I don’t think anyone can truthfully answer the question of whether they feel them or not.”

More than half a century later, the ability to experience feelings and emotions are features that – at least for now – remain uniquely human.

Interestingly, unlike Hal’s ability to converse in a fictional setting, computers weren’t particularly good at language. However, today Gen AI has revolutionized natural language processing (NLP) tasks, which include large language model (LLM)-based language translation and sentiment evaluation, and chatbots can now understand and reply to questions and commands. A very noteworthy example is a computer equipped with artificial intelligence pass the Turing test while convincing many human judges that it was a person and not a machine.

Outside the technology area

As Gen. AI continues to automate human tasks, thus not “intuiting” in any particular way, those of us alive can evaluate our other unique characteristics that machines cannot imitate. Beyond emotions, traits that remain uniquely human include imaginative creativity and original pondering, and complex problem solving that requires cognitive flexibility and intuition. It is also essential to notice how morality and ethics – beyond the capabilities of technology without the experience of being a member of society – influence human decisions.

The five human senses and the extensive processes that the brain associates with them provide one other example of what will be considered uniquely human. When sight, sound, smell, taste and touch intertwine notoriously unreliable memory To create an embodied experience in humans, it is difficult to assume technology reproducing the uniquely human experience of this convergence of senses.

Delving deeper into the unparalleled qualities of the mind, the discovery of mirror neurons represents one other human characteristic that technology has yet to duplicate. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires each when a person performs a specific motor motion or experiences an emotion and when he or she observes the same or similar motion performed or emotion experienced by one other person. First observed in primates, mirror neuron-driven actions will be described in the most simplistic terms as “monkey see, monkey do.”

According to research published by National Institute of Health about mirror neurons “from a functional point of view, action execution and observation are closely related processes and… the ability to interpret the actions of others requires the involvement of our own motor system.” These mirror neurons enhance our experience of empathy, competition, and teamwork, to call just a few examples. Although LLM can infer what we feel, they do not feel it themselves.

Changing the way an organization thinks

With the increasing trajectory of AI generation and the thought-provoking existential questions that accompany it, humans are grappling with manage, control, and regulate AI technology. In the future, organizations might want to make selections when delegating tasks to gen AI technologies.

According to tests According to McKinsey, business leaders have to take a broad look at the capabilities of generational AI and “deeply consider its implications for organizations.” The results revealed that many global managers shared the following sentiment: “We were behind in automation and digitalization and we are finally catching up. We don’t want to be left behind again, but we’re not sure how to think about generative AI.”

Wanting to avoid repeating missed opportunities from the past, many organizations are taking a cautious approach to generational AI. Gen. AI firms will need to ascertain well-defined workforce deployment and utilization strategies to make sure responsible implementation of the implementation plan. It will turn into more and more critical as latest regulations were created to make sure the ethical use of artificial intelligence gen. and established standards to make sure data privacy and security. In short, organizations with a legitimate stake in the AI ​​gene shall be held accountable for how they develop and implement it.

Just because technology does something…

Traditionally, technology has had a major impact on what we consider “work,” with 60% of jobs held by people in employment in 2018. in 1940 it didn’t exist. As we sit up for an increasingly AI-mediated world, it remains to be seen what latest efforts humans will make as AI transforms the 9-to-5 work landscape. In the future, governments, corporations and organizations of all kinds might want to make critical, conscious decisions about what shall be delegated to computers and what roles will remain in the human sphere. The following point needs to be considered during this process: just because a technology does something doesn’t necessarily mean it should do it.

When futurist Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick teamed up in the Nineteen Sixties to write down a script that put artificial intelligence at the center of the plot, could they have known how predictable their fiction would one day turn into?