I thought about that question for a while. That led me to another question. An even more fundamental one:
What does it mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines?
The world is constantly changing but the wetware in our brains has stayed relatively constant.
If machines can compete with people in thinking, what will enable us to continue to create social and economic value?
What makes us humans unique?
The answer is the one thing machines will never have: “a heart.”
Humans can love, we can have compassion, we can dream, we can inspire.
While machines can reliably interoperate, humans can build deep relationships of trust.
I recently came across an interview with Dov Seidman. What he said resonated very much with me:
“Our highest self-conception needs to be redefined from ‘I think, therefore I am’ to ‘I care, therefore I am; I hope, therefore I am; I imagine, therefore I am. I am ethical, therefore I am. I have a purpose, therefore I am. I pause and reflect, therefore I am.’ “
The tech revolution will certainly force humans to create more value with hearts and between hearts. Like with all those attributes that can’t be programmed into software, like passion, intuition, empathy, character and collaborative spirit.
“Machines can be programmed to do the next thing right. But only humans can do the next right thing.” – Dov Seidman video – https://bit.ly/302Q398
This reminds me of that ancient Talmudic proverb: “What comes from the heart, enters the heart.”
In conclusion, I am convinced that only if we start behaving like robots we need to be afraid of robots outsmarting us.
Let’s use our ‘heartware’ to our advantage over all that hardware and software out there.
When we stop thinking …