Original Publish Date 11/22/2019 By //  by Teresa Stolarskyj

Microsoft says:

AI can and will replace rote work and repetitive tasks in business and aspects of everyday life. It can also help to unlock human potential. Creativity is becoming more attainable–and more valuable–than ever before and your business can realize that value easier with a simple to use AI platform.

The BlueSilverShift Perspective:

Artificial Intelligence is an enigmatic topic for many. It is easy to imagine reasons to fear what AI will mean for humanity. While caution and skepticism may be merited, as with any new or unfamiliar terrain, it is worth considering the positive impacts AI can have.

AI will most certainly replace jobs. These will tend to be rote jobs that range from the tedious to the dangerous. Some will miss the low-skilled jobs, but a better response than resisting change would be to improve access to training and re-skilling to meet future employment needs. There is already a skilled labour shortage in important areas of the economy, and workers for jobs that require human interaction are in demand. So, there is little to fear in terms of a net jobs disappearance, or of a loss of skill range.

A robotic hand holding a Rubik's Cube covered in binary.
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In fact, technology has historically created more jobs than it has replaced, and there is no reason to think this time will be different. The upshot, as well, is that automation will help reduce exposure to hazardous conditions, contaminants and potential for injury or long-term health consequences as a result of specific types of jobs. In short, AI will lead to better jobs.

Creativity: the future of work

Of course, technical know-how is important, and, as today, there will be varying levels of skills and specialisms required. But broadly, jobs of the future will require creativity and problem-solving. These soft skills meet a need that AI cannot, because it cannot replace high-level human thinking nor replicate emotion. Observation, empathy and sensitivity often give us unconscious cues that we then call intuition.

“The competitive advantage that’s historically been tied to high IQ levels has decreased in importance as AI has, and will continue to, level the intellectual playing field.”

Falon Fatemi

BSS agrees that AI will augment human creativity rather than doom it, and will help more people benefit from its advances than ever before.

Consider that there was a time when people could not fathom talking to one another over distances before a telephone connected them; when performances could only be enjoyed live because recording technology did not exist; when outer space was a fantasy because technology had not brought people to it. We take these things for granted today, but at one time, they were beyond anyone’s ability to imagine. And so is the future.

A mixing board, with dials turn up for creativity and efficiency.
Want to be ready for the future of work? Make sure your creativity goes to 11

The only guarantee in life is change. What that will look like is unknown. However, the power is in your hands to be at the front creating it, or at the back resisting it.

The future is yours to create

Anyone can develop creativity, and everyone has timeless talents. Things that are not valued in economic terms in today’s marketplace may look very different in 5, 10, 50 years from now. And the truth is, this is how it has always been.

With capacity for creativity inversely proportionate to mental load, AI can help free up our minds for greater thinking. The question is up to us whether we choose to take advantage of it.

Teresa Stolarskyj | Office Manager & Digital Transformation Blogger at BlueSilverShift