Back in September, I had the fortune to be able to join 13 of our Techscaler founders in San Francisco, spending some time downtown and then at the SaaStr Annual conference. It’s no surprise to anyone working in tech that AI was everywhere, but what is a surprise is how ‘everywhere’ and embedded it is. Having been to the same conference the previous year where it was a core discussion item within talks and events, it’s now the only thing, and it’s getting serious. San Francisco also has ads for AI products and AI tools in the same way we get ads for which films are coming to the cinema soon and where you should book your next holiday. On the side of bins on the streets, on ad boards on flyovers, on ad hoarding on buildings, it’s inescapable. So what does that mean for us, the humans, and not the AIs?
As one of the founders said ‘in San Francisco, they live in the future’ and I guess what was meant by this is that the city is over-indexed on a population of inventors, innovators, disruptors and technologists. The more this has grown over time, the more it attracts more. This means there’s an openness and willingness to try new things, explore the possible, attempt to build the world of 10, 40, 100 years’ time, but today. One of the stark changes in just 12 months since my last visit is the introduction of autonomous cars in the city, you hail a Waymo just like you’d hail an Uber. Except there’s no driver, no small talk, and your choice of playlist! And it really works, I was hooked, but also normalised to it, in just 10 minutes.
One morning I also took a trip to Clockwork for a $10 robot manicure. It says it’s an AI manicure, but I couldn’t really work out how AI played a part. It takes a 3D picture of your nail and then uses the paint colour of your choice to outline and then fill in your nail in a concentric circle. But what about the nail technician in Edinburgh who knows where I’m heading on holiday, how I’m fitting this appointment into my work schedule, when my sister is visiting, and weirdly a lot more about my life! These everyday human interactions can reduce loneliness, increase human connection and build unexpected friendships. But they can’t paint my nails in 10 minutes for $10 (that’s what they advertise, in reality it took closer to 20).
So what does this mean for what it is to be a human and for human value if the robots and technology are really able to ‘take’ roles that previously required human labour? Well really these innovation cycles have happened through history, think about the washing machine, robots on factory lines, direct phone lines replacing switchboards. Theorists say we’re in the sixth wave of innovation with AI so in reality it’s not a new thing. I think that human interaction has the opportunity to be the most valuable thing in the age of AI.
I like to link it back to the research from the 4-day work week experiments. The 5 day work week was introduced by Henry Ford, the leader of the Ford Motor Company in 1926, reducing the working week from 6 days. Ford's research showed that working more hours only led to a small increase in productivity that was short-lived. He also wanted his workers to have time to shop and holiday. And research from the 4-day work weeks that have rolled out across various countries not only show reduced absenteeism, no real impact on productivity and reduced stress, but they often show that people use this time to do more social activities, increase their caring responsibilities, volunteer and other things that enable more human interaction.
So while we become more productive and each hour we work is not linked to an hour’s worth of output, we’re able to connect more on a human level in other ways. The ability of technology to increase productivity and output enables us to have more space for the things that make us human. I for one would love to reduce the administrative burden that AI and other technologies can do for me, and spend more time with the people in my life who give me energy and warm my soul.
But equally, AI requires training, quality checks, (as yet) isn’t emotionally intelligent, doesn’t always pick up on nuance, and needs prompting. So then the human is the value add to the technology, but only the humans who learn how it works and are able to add this value.
I want to encourage back in Scotland that we do take the opportunity to explore and be open to the possibility of this new future, and not try to ignore or not adopt it for fear of the possibility. Let’s be the ones using AI in our lives and not the ones being replaced by the people who are, and let’s also make sure our human interactions are of value irreplaceable. Will there ever be a replacement for a coffee, two way enthusiastic discussion and a hug with another person? Maybe there’ll be an alternative but I’m not saying it’ll be as valuable to us as human beings.
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