Co-living with AI - metaverse and the future of work

Being a father is responsibility I take seriously and love every minute of it. As my older daughter just started primary school, I noticed that my vision for her education differ to goals many parents have. Looking at the future of work and big picture for the next decade or two – jobs that will require high technical and quantitative intelligence will fade. Positions (not only jobs) which require empathy, understanding and emotional intelligence will flourish. This is how I up-bring and nourish my daughters. And – this change will come as future generation will co-work with AI.

I will skip the whole future of work as #slack or Asana, see it and go a bit further. IT, engineering and data jobs are in high demand, but even faster id growth in low-code and no-code moment, and its matter of couple of short year before AI will take over most of coding jobs all-together. For sure AI can learn to code faster than humans and don’t need caffeinated energy drinks or visits to a gym to keep going (yes, we tech guys should go to gym more often). Will AI overtook coding? Undoubtedly. Its same as 100-years ago humans were trying to compete with machines in digging a tunnel through hills and mountains. Pointless. But, AI will need our understand of world around, our understanding of humans for which it will code. AI will need our empathy to guide them. Otherwise products will not serve as required, as every product or service in it’s core have human needs. Therefor in 20 years, when my little angels reach employment age, I envision that they will co-work with her AI assistants, building some amazing new things and leading them in understanding humans. Our kids will need emotional intelligence, empathy developed deeply than any generation before.

What else we can bring to uneven battle for jobs -against AI and machines? We can be brave. This is our market advantage over machines. Courage. They can not take risks that our humans brain can. And this world would not be as wonderful as it is without risky moves. Not one robot or machine will decide to burn at stakes, claiming that Earth is round when everyone else thinks its flat plate on the back of four turtles. Yet, Giordano Bruno stand for what we know its a fact today, showing bravely that will never be matches by AI. We humans – must stand out with developing emotion as our advantages to build world that we will love to live in.

Metaverse or omniverse, as Facebook (sorry, Meta) and NVIDIA call it is another way of merging our physical world with virtual worlds. Again, we already stepped into this world – just check your teenage neighbor that probably spend more time interactive with his Blizzard mates (real or virtual) than real friends on the park bench. New park benches are virtual. But let’s not be afraid of this change, but embrace it. I can see lot of very useful applications, not only limited to training AI in metaverse, but helping people too. As teenager I envision that hospitals of the future will be orbital station, circling around the Earth, powered by solar energy, taking advantage of lack of gravity and so on. But how will we visit our loved ones in orbital hospitals? In virtual world of course. Place where we could have a walk with our loved ones and spend more quality time. As someone whose family is stretched between several continents, I am sure that family gatherings will be easier with metaverse. Question is will school have a similar concept? Now, don’t’ get all negative and imagine a lot of kids placed in dark room with AR helmet strapped on their heads. Please. Think about forest, yes, really forest with fresh air, and kids walking with teacher, while AI robot accompany them and project hologram of Einstein walking next to them and explaining physics in nature. We can use technology to go further, learn more, be more connected, and – be more human. Changes is up on us – not AI. We must take responsibility for how future will shape.

What we exactly need to do? Be brave. To step into this new world of living and co-working with AI without fear and lead with our emotions and empathy – our understand that AI is part of our evolution and we must lead it to became – and stay – human. And for this to work, we should not be afraid of uneven battle with technology – but be brave – and lead with our empathy.

(opinion piece by Dean Lockhard of Mission.ai)