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Opinion: AI will not take our jobs, it will become our assistant

Ai will not take our jobs, it will become our assistant. Pacer Graphic/Adrianna’ Carter

 

Featured Image: Pacer Graphic / Adrianna’ Carter

AI more than likely will not take our jobs, but it could make a pretty great assistant.

For many years, artificial intelligence has been seen as a threat not only to in-school assignments and writing essays but also to future careers.

This concern is completely reasonable. AI technology has come a long way and can do some very impressive things. AI has reached a point where it can perform tasks that would normally take hours in minutes.

However, it still has its limits, and many of them, for that matter.

One of the biggest limits to AI is that it cannot actually understand what it is processing. While AI can generate correct answers or write essays from a prompt, it doesn’t actually understand the way humans do. Instead, it recognizes patterns based on what it is told and trained to do.

According to Psychology Today, AI is not capable of building new knowledge and learning the way people do. AI relies on existing data and models, which limits its ability to process new information that interferes with prior knowledge.

This is not a problem humans have, or any living creature, for that matter.

One simple example is a rat in a maze. A rat can learn and adapt to a changing maze. In the same constantly changing situation, AI would not be able to do the same without being completely retrained.

Another limit AI struggles with is emotional intelligence and empathy.

AI can give responses that may seem supportive, but it doesn’t truly understand human emotion. AI cannot understand anger, frustration, or confusion and hence cannot give a proper response to resolve situations like a human could.

According to Smart VAs, AI falls short in emotional understanding, adaptability, and genuine human connections. While AI can simulate conversations that feel meaningful, it cannot fully replace real connections with people.

Despite these weaknesses, AI still has enormous value in the workplace, and rather than replacing humans, it would be best as a support tool.

As has already been said, AI can complete tasks significantly faster than humans can. It can be useful in tasks like organization, summarization and drafting simple documents.

This would allow people to spend more time on the bigger, more human-focused things, like creativity and decision-making.

This has happened plenty of times in history, for instance, computers, phones and calculators. None of these technological innovations replaced humans, so why would AI not follow this same trend?

Instead of replacing humans, AI may become one of, if not the most valuable, assistant people have ever had, helping them become faster, more efficient and more focused on what only humans can do.

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