Is the AI Hype Real or Nah?
If you work in technology, you have likely had the same thought or engaged in a thought-provoking conversation in the last 6 months that left you worried. The simple answer is that AI will most likely eliminate many job functions, but humans will take on other functions and evolve to be the stewards of AI.
I often use the example of grocery store automatic checkout. Self-scan stations have been in grocery stores for well over 10 years, and while there may be fewer human-operated checkout stations, there is still always a human being manning the central counter.
A human eye needs to check for underage alcohol purchases or punch in a code when the system seemingly can’t move forward without human assistance.
While Amazon took this to another level with its Amazon-Go concept, this store still operated with both on-site presence and camera monitoring.
While visiting an Amazon-Go in Seattle last fall, I still had to show someone my state ID when entering the liquor store section of the store. I recently read that Amazon was going in a different direction with this concept and closing these stores.
Perhaps it was too far ahead of its time.
AI was certainly used in all the Amazon-Go stores, but human interaction was still required for the final purchase of some items.
The Amazon Go store I went into was only staffed by 3-4 people at most, from what I could see. Whereas a normal busy grocery store would have three times as many people to staff the checkout and stock the shelves.
Perhaps people felt uncomfortable with the idea of being observed by an overlord watching through camera lenses when they simply needed to buy an embarrassing pharmaceutical item. This is only furthermore exacerbated when you are bombarded with online ads suggesting wart cream at every swipe through Instagram.
The best advice I can give as a recruiter to someone that is concerned about their job being taken by AI, is to embrace and expand your knowledge. AI is evolving at an astounding rate but most AI out there is a long way off from being able to replace a human.
I recommend taking a little time each day to understand how AI platforms are being updated with every version and use it to do simple tasks. I just used AI to multiply a cake recipe by 5. I wanted to see if this technology was smart enough to simplify the most idiotic unit of measurement, the Imperial System. Let me tell you folks, we aren’t there yet.
However, Companies are currently hiring for AI developers, and soon managers will want to know if you are someone who is AI resistant or if you are the kind of person willing to embrace and become a steward of AI.
CX, or customer experience, has only recently evolved from a buzzword to an actual job. This is a result of CSRs evolving to the rapidly changing pace of what the technology needs to make a product more human-centric.
Phone support representatives SHOULD be molding into CX because they are the people that interact with the humans using products and services on a daily basis. And, sorry to break it to all the middle managers out there, these are the most qualified people to create improvements. LISTEN TO THEM, THEY HAVE INFORMED OPINIONS.
They are doing UX research without even knowing it.
Perhaps the scariest concept about AI for some comes in the name: Artificial. To be honest, the aspect of something artificial inherently correlating to something being fraudulent is terrifying. The human experience, while often cyclical and replicated, is unique to our species.
I can’t tell you how much of my job is determining if someone is who they say they are, are located where they say they are, and are capable of the skills they are claiming on their resume.
I completely empathize with the backward approach companies and hiring managers have taken to the prolonged interview but I believe this is a direct result of having been in a situation involving fraud.
My hope is that with every new issue that AI brings, like combating fraud, humans will help create the solution.
In this way our jobs may change by some aspects being automated or simplified, but if there is anything that humans are great at, it’s creating new problems. I can guarantee, we will always need problem solvers.