Upon careful observation, I have recently arrived at an intriguing realisation: the much-beloved Siri has developed a human-like approach.
This may come as no surprise to iPhone users but I found this interesting because, from what I can remember, Siri used to answer with a more formal “How can I help?” when her name was called.
However, a recent encounter on a friend’s phone revealed a sassier side to her.
What was most surprising about her most recent “mm-hmm” response was how much it sounded like an old acquaintance who is not really interested in the conversation but knows they need to pay attention to stay relevant.
Perhaps people like me who grew up in the 1990s may have watched futuristic shows like The Jetsons, where artificial intelligence (AI) helped a seemingly thriving society live and do their jobs.
To give context, AI is defined as “a group of technologies that let machines do things that humans normally do”.
The AI concept as defined above is somewhat unsettling because it presents the idea that the human workforce will soon be completely replaced by intelligent machines.
This idea also reminds me of the industrial revolution in Europe in the 18th century.
During that period, science and technology changed the economy from farming to manufacturing, starting in the UK and then spread.
In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the implementation of AI by the South African Revenue Service to prevent the leakage of more than R95-billion in impermissible refunds.
Seemingly, the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is like the industrial revolution of the past in that it has changed people’s lives and the way they work while making production more efficient.
When I was younger, the idea of having a machine help you with daily chores seemed like a dream, but now here we are, living in that world.
Perhaps we were unaware of the accelerated pace at which we were transitioning into a new world but South Africa, which is both a first- and third-world country, is in at the crossroads of this change.
While one person can comfortably work from home and stream their favourite shows, the other is grappling with access to an internet café.
Yet it seems we are now helplessly standing by as grateful beneficiaries of AI’s passive entertainment and labour.
Applications (apps) have made it easier for people to get their work done quickly.
Nevertheless, what does this mean for the person who has relaxed their mind toward the power of AI? Satiating the instant gratification of delegating our work to a machine overshadows the fact that we are gradually losing grip on our agency and transferring our skills to the machines that help make our lives easier.
As we deplete our minds, AI continues to grow at our expense. At what point does this interaction verge into laziness, or worse, a culture shift that demonises the results of good, honest hard work?
Thankfully, AI seems to be able to police itself through AI detection apps, which is a good thing.
More businesses and learning institutions are using them to verify work for plagiarism and AI-based content. For instance, a judge in KwaZulu-Natal recently discovered that a law firm in Pietermaritzburg used AI technology to source the unverifiable legal citations. He fined the law firm a hefty fee, concluded that this practice was “irresponsible and unprofessional”.
The same scrutiny should be applied to those who rely entirely on AI for their work output, this includes students. We should not surrender ourselves to its “brilliance” because in return, we are not only losing the integrity of honest work but also the ability to see ourselves in the same light.
However, if we persist in our quest to uncover the intrinsic human element within these tools, it is unlikely that AI will, at least not yet completely replace human experience.
We still have the ability to apply our minds and limit its use to only when it is necessary.
So rather than be wary or afraid of AI, we can change our focus and embrace it as a tool to help us polish our efforts.
- Leshilo is a communicator, writer and researcher.
