Will Technology Kill Us?

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning & Robotics will change the way we live within next 10 - 15 years. It was impossible to imagine 10 - 15 years back for most of us that life will be around likes of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Amonzon, Flipkart. Same way it was impossible to think that you can get a cab in your doorstep just by clicking few buttons on Ola and Uber. 

Information technology & innovation is 
changing our life faster than we can think. Technology is growing exponentially. Challenge in front of humanity is how do we cope up with such rapid pace. Or is there a need to slow down the pace of development. The way technology eliminated typewriter, PCO, yellow page, celluloid camera the same way technology is now eliminating mechanical & routine jobs. Call center jobs are being replaced by bots. Drones is replacing delivery boys. Even once crowded pass control system (immigration check) in US is now automated & human officer comes only if someone needs help. These changes are profound and have someway or other impact our life. Interestingly, this is not just happening in west - we live in a flat world. Even in country like India thousands of job will get eliminated soon. One more example here. Here is a detailed report from McKinsey on Where machines could replace humans—and where they can’t (yet).  While some of these appear syfy,  these are reality. And, it is not just limiting to automation. The progress in machine learning (ability of computer systems to lean without being programmed for that) & artificial intelligence (AI) is unparallel. From Self Driven Car (popularly known as google car) to automatically ordering grocery based on based on what is there in your refrigerator and your previous order history is not far away. We are unknowingly living in a world that we never dreamt of. 

So, is there anything that we need to do or be worried about. At this point we probably don't know. There are significant pitfalls of automation and these advancement. Read this Atlantic article by American author Nicholas Carr on putting our knowledge in the hands of machine - "All Can Be Lost: The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machines". But for sure we need to figure out a symbiotic relationship with these advancement. Futurologist Ray Kurzweil thinks Humans will be hybrids by 2030.That means our brains will be able to connect directly to the cloud, where there will be thousands of computers, and those computers will augment our existing intelligence. Are we heading for a Human Operating System?Entrepreneur and innovator Elon Musk Says Humans Need to Merge With Machines to Remain Relevant. 

Lets get prepared. I leave you with one more good weekend read - Don’t replace people. Augment them.

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