Innovating Leadership:
Co-Creating Our Future

Episode Content:

The Rise of Humanness (The Role of People in an AI World)

Chris Nolan, a multi-award-winning writer and director, brings an in-depth understanding of the complex interplay between humans and AI technology, and Michael Schindler, a veteran, writer, and podcast host, adds his transformative voice to the discussions on integrating AI with human qualities, share this article as a companion to their podcast The Rise of Humanness (The Role of People in an AI World).

An excerpt from Chapter 1 of their forthcoming book, The Age of Humanness:

THE CROSSROADS OF HUMAN DESTINY

We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in human history — we are at the elbow of the exponential curve, poised at a “fork in the road” moment. We are either on the brink of a technological renaissance that will unfurl a new tapestry of human evolution or we are facing a dystopian future wrought by inaction, irresponsibility, and lack of foresight.

The trials and tribulations of recent years — the COVID pandemic, geopolitical turbulence, and anxiety over livelihoods in the face of AI — have shaken our collective psyche to its core, impacting our well-being and faith in the future.

Society, the workplace, and the economy all stand at the precipice of transformation or disintegration.

As recent stats from the World Economic Forum inform us, since COVID, the crises, uncertainty, and risks have only accelerated.

It’s a vast list from geopolitical, economic, social and climate upheaval, to threats to democracy and mental health deterioration. It is not hard to fathom why studies show people all over the world are terrified of what’s next.

Over 70% of the world, especially those between 18 and 40, are fearful of the future. And over half think humanity is doomed.

We are now at a crucial moment, where change will challenge and push the envelope of our linear-biased minds to master this new exponential world.

The futurists among us compare the present era to the convergence of twenty Gutenberg printing presses.

Overnight, the specter of artificial intelligence disrupting jobs and livelihoods whipped the unsuspecting teeming masses into a frenzied state of collective hysteria.

We’ve all been caught off guard with the seemingly sudden arrival of so much change. And we’re behind the curve. But we cannot allow ourselves to be caught off guard again. Or fall even further behind the exponential curve. Or become consumed with mass hysteria, despair, or apathy.

The pace of change is breathtaking, terrifying, and exhilarating all at once. And the acceleration is only accelerating.

Far more revolutionary, earth-shaking technologies and changes are coming at us down the pike — beyond just chatty GPTs and other AIs. Here’s how the hockey stick graph translates to AI’s exponentially accelerating computer power.

In 2050, it’s on track to have 1,000,000 times more intelligence than today.

Indeed, ChatGPT 4 has astoundingly leapfrogged beyond the projections that were once thought to be years away. We are now riding the crest of a double exponential curve, accelerating at a dizzying, doubling, doubling pace.

The arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI, a machine possessing the full cognitive abilities of an adult human) is now estimated to emerge in a mere decade or two.

Thus, we find ourselves grappling with a world that is more uncertain, more enigmatic, and more unpredictable than literally any human can comprehend.

We are at an urgent crossroads, a time of decisions and actions for you, society, and all of humanity.

For, along with monumental challenges, we must not lose sight of the colossal opportunities and the potential abundance that this era offers.

We must turn this pervasive fearful, pessimistic narrative on its head, for despair, apathy, and apprehension serve only to hinder positive progress.

It is the optimists who shall save the world.