Souren Paul, PhD, Northern Kentucky University

Paper: “Augmented Intelligence: Human Factors in AI and Future of Work”

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI), which people originally modeled after human intelligence, has made significant advances in recent years. The availability of parallel and distributed processing at a reasonable cost and the diversity of data sources have contributed to newer developments in AI. These advances in AI have caused many to fear that machines will surpass human intelligence and dominate humans. The developments in the AI computing environment have not always been concomitant with changes in the social, legal, and political environment. A paradigm that is gaining attention in recent years is that of Intelligence Augmentation (IA), which has the potential to turn the tension between the two intelligence types (human and machine) into a symbiotic one. In this paradigm, the intricacies of human-machine interaction form the foundation of Augmented Intelligence. The recent focus of Augment Intelligence is on Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) hybrid-augmented intelligence, which is an intelligent model in which a human is always part of the system and consequently influences the outcome in such a way that the human gives further judgment if a low confidence result is provided by a machine. There have been advancements in cognitive computing based hybrid-augmented intelligence which refers to new software and/or hardware that mimics the function of the human brain and improves computers’ capabilities of perception, reasoning, and decision-making. While these systems present opportunities to individuals and organizations to harness the power of augmented intelligence, there are risks and challenges in Human-in-the-Loop hybrid- augmented intelligence systems, such as the introduction of bias from Human-AI interaction. Intelligent systems, such as deep-learning algorithms, are changing the ways in which knowledge is created and shared in organizations. When considering deploying AI, the context of deployment and end goal of augmentation for that specific context are both significant factors that professionals, organizations, and society should take into account.. In this research, we attempt to highlight some important socio-technical aspects that are associated with recent developments in Augmented Intelligence systems.

The recent developments in Augmented Intelligence have also initiated debates on the future of work. Does Augmented Intelligence help employers and workers achieve improvements in the future of work at the individual level, team level, and organizational level? There is an agreement that jobs requiring innovative and creative skills would be affected the least, or put in other words, are “safest” from being replaced by machines. However, with the recent developments of AI content generators, such as ChatGPT, this proposition is challenged. AI can earn patents. News articles written by AI are now published. What are the implications of these developments for the future of work? What is the future of work/expertise with AI and robot collaborators from the perspective of “Service in the AI Era”? Is there any profession “safe” from AI? These are some of the questions on the future of work that are gaining attention with recent advancements in Augmented Intelligence.