Saba Sultana is a Senior Software Engineer Consultant at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia (USA). In this role, she applies her advanced engineering expertise to develop and optimize high-performance software solutions for legacy USPTO applications. At the USPTO, Ms. Sultana specializes in architecting and implementing complex algorithms, data storage solutions, and cloud migrations to support scalable USPTO systems. The USPTO provides guidance on the impact of artificial intelligence and issues at the intersection of AI and intellectual property, including patent subject matter eligibility. The office continues to be directly involved in developing legal and policy measures related to the impact of AI on all forms of intellectual property. Today, Techbullion connects with Saba Sultana to discuss work practices in the era of augmented intelligence.
In a data-driven economy where businesses create value and compete by using information, adopting artificial intelligence (AI) on a larger scale could increase the global economy by up to $15.7 trillion by 2030. With AI transforming how companies operate, many people think that it will also change who does the work; that is, organizations may start replacing their human employees with smart machines. This is not mere speculation; intelligent systems are already taking over from humans in areas such as manufacturing, service provision, hiring, and finance, thereby pushing human workers into lower-paying jobs or rendering them jobless altogether. Consequently, some commentators have gone as far as predicting that our workforce will be completely different come 2040.
Do humans and machines compete? From the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards, people have always transferred their work to devices. At first, it was basic, repetitive physical labor such as weaving, but now machines can do what we would consider more complex mental tasks like solving math problems, understanding language and speech, or even writing. They appear prepared not only to imitate our bodily actions but also those of our minds. AI in the 21st century is becoming better than humans at most things, which means any further advancement will see intelligence being done by technology on our behalf. It seems like with this new wave, everything can soon be automated—no job is safe from being given over to a machine.
This vision of the future of work has taken the shape of a zero-sum game in which there can only be one winner.
Nevertheless, we think this vision of how AI will interact with work is mistaken. The idea that artificial intelligence could replace human workers rests on the assumption that AI systems and people share similar characteristics or capabilities, but they do not. These machines are quick, precise, and reliably rational, yet they lack intuition, emotional understanding, and cultural awareness, which are exactly what make us effective at our jobs. These skills are uniquely human
Augmented Intelligence
In 1997, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was defeated by an IBM supercomputer program called Deep Blue. It made him think about how the mental game of chess could be approached—not just as an individual effort but as a team effort. And so, having seen what Deep Blue could do, he decided to try working with another AI.
Kasparov played in Leon, Spain, in 1998 with a PC running his chosen chess software—what’s known as “advanced chess”—against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, whom he had beaten 4-0 a month earlier. This time, the match ended in a 3-3 draw. With both players supported by computers, it seemed like using a PC neutralized Kasparov’s usual calculative and strategic edge over his opponent.
The match provided an important illustration of how humans might work with AI. After the match, Kasparov noted that the use of a PC allowed him to focus more on strategic planning while the machine took care of the calculations. Nevertheless, he also stressed that simply putting together the best human player and best PC did not, in his eyes, reveal games that were perfect. Like with human teams, the power of working with an AI comes from how the person and computer complement each other; the best players and most powerful AIs partnering up does not necessarily produce the best results.
Once again, the world of chess provides a useful test case for this collaboration. In 2005, Playchess.com hosted an online chess tournament called “Freestyle,” in which anyone could compete using any combination of humans and computers. Normally, we understand computers to be tools that strengthen the already formidable powers of the grandmaster. Weak human + machine + better process was superior to a strong computer alone and, more remarkably, superior to a strong human + machine + inferior process. What made this event different is that during freestyle competitions, some participants were allowed to open up multiple accounts so that they could play themselves.
The Real Collaboration
Our vision of the potential for improvement and collaboration is diametrically opposed to the zero-sum forecasts of what AI will do to society and institutions. What we think, on the other hand, is that increased efficiency and cognitive automation are blessings in disguise. After all, every new technology tends to have disruptive effects at first and only reveals its true value over time during the implementation or development phase.
That being said, this does not mean that we must wait patiently for these values to eventually show themselves—far from it! Our main challenge as businessmen therefore lies in trying to pre-emptively understand how artificial intelligence relates to human thought and action before aggressively incorporating them into our organizations. We cannot simply sit back until it supersedes traditional methods. What else can we do now, apart from waiting passively and hoping different AI’s integrate well enough to make our organizations function appropriately?
To start, teams will be made up of humans and non-humans working together – the “new diversity.” The psychology of this new diversity carries with it a danger: that stereotypical beliefs and biases will easily infect decisions and teamwork. A machine coworker can be distrusted and negatively impacted by their human teammate by withholding information and avoiding collaboration. Such negative team dynamics should be competently dealt with by leaders who should also understand that these negative beliefs are real.
Secondly, different party leaders need to be good at uniting various sides in the future. Creating inclusive teams through man-machine alignment will become an important skill that must be taught or developed. As we saw in the above examples, one big thing required from leaders to achieve better performance using these new diversity teams is for them (leaders) to change into masters at coordinating team processes while acting as coaches too.
Last, it will be required to oversee team processes, and this must be done by a person. For individuals to synchronize human capabilities with artificial intelligence, a person must know how artificial intelligence operates, its purpose, and—using their actual intellect’s evaluative properties—what is the best application for enhancing performance in the service of people.
In this regard, augmented intelligence, represents a step towards intelligent work in the future. The future of work refers to growing employees and making them perform better in more productive ways. However, the discussion around this matter has lost clarity on what it seeks to achieve. Today, businesses are at a point where machines are often introduced as new superpowers that can render human beings with nothing worthwhile to do except serve them since they tell stories about cost-cutting measures. But for a truly smart conception of the future of work, we must expand workforce participation by both humans and machines, not just so we can become efficient at our jobs but also improve humanity’s lot in life while doing so. In other words, it should be realized that augmented intelligence is indeed collaborative; nevertheless, it becomes apparent that such collaboration serves man best.
