AI's Inescapable Micro-Chops: Demise From Accumulated Automation Injuries
In today's digital age, AI is increasingly being integrated into various aspects of society and business. While each AI interaction promises value, a closer look reveals a complex web of consequences that are not always desirable.
The replacement of human interactions by AI extends beyond their functional purpose. AI is not just about performing tasks efficiently; it's about building relationships, transmitting culture, and creating meaning. Each AI interaction that replaces a human one contributes to a gradual erosion of these essential human aspects.
The value of AI decisions isn't always linear. The thousandth decision might promise value, but it could also destroy core value. This is evident in the transformation of society through small AI decisions, which collectively shape outcomes that might not be desirable.
Small decisions are often the first to be delegated to AI, shaping large outcomes. For instance, email priorities can influence relationships, while resume filters can shape culture. This incremental delegation fundamentally changes organizational character, eliminating human connection.
Economist Alfred E. Kahn's concept of the 'tyranny of small decisions' from 1966 rings true in the AI era. Individual rational choices can aggregate into collectively irrational outcomes. This is evident in healthcare, where small efficiency decisions have led to large human costs, resulting in patient alienation and doctor frustration.
The transformation of channels through small AI adoptions is another concern. Over time, humanity is lost through a thousand cuts, and the transformation is often invisible to management, who only see improved metrics. Education is another area where AI has been incrementally adopted, transforming teaching into content delivery, learning into metric optimization, and education into certification, with the human development mission disappearing.
Financial models evaluate decisions individually, missing systemic effects such as customer lifetime value eroding and employee engagement declining. Each automation in an organization, while seemingly beneficial in isolation, fundamentally changes the organizational character, eliminating human connection.
Healthcare has also automated gradually, with the potential for alienation as human interactions are replaced by AI. Some inefficiencies are worth preserving to maintain human spaces and capabilities. The retail industry has transformed through small AI decisions, eliminating the human retail experience and creating stores that are vending machines with walls.
Each delegated decision reduces human capability, leading to large incapacities. Organizations become fragile through accumulated delegation and automation, losing resilience. Each AI adoption creates dependencies, leading to large lock-ins that prevent reversal.
The 'tyranny of small decisions' in AI might reach irreversibility, making it impossible to undo the accumulated effects. Individual decisions can't consider systemic effects, requiring democratic processes for AI adoption. Boundaries erode through precedent in AI adoption, normalizing the next small decision.
The tyranny operates through incrementalism, where no single decision seems important enough to warrant careful consideration. Healing has disappeared into optimization in healthcare due to accumulated automation. The stack of AI technologies accumulates through small decisions, and technical debt accumulates similarly through small technical decisions.
Despite these concerns, AI is being successfully implemented by companies like Leaping AI in Berlin, automating customer service inquiries with voicebots, and startups like Paul's Job, automating HR processes with agent-based AI. These implementations have transformed organizational structures by enhancing efficiency and reducing manual workload.
As we navigate this digital transformation, it's crucial to strike a balance between efficiency and preserving human connection. Each small decision matters, and a democratic approach to AI adoption could help ensure that we reap the benefits of AI without losing sight of what makes us human.
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