Human Augmentation 2.0: How Technology Will Drive Human Beings in a Post-COVID World

So far Human being was driving Information Technology and its use but now it seems the outbreak of the COVID-19 will reverse the same and Human being will be driven by the Computer and can be known as Human Augmentation 2.0.

The speed at which AI has taken over our daily lives is astonishing. We do not even imagine, how seamlessly it is infused in our life. Right from our Google maps to Inbox spam filters, mobile-check deposits to our social media, everything has a hint of artificial intelligence.

Amid the COVID-19 scenario AI is doing wonders, whether it is remote learning and assessment tools for virtual education or the new government app — Aarogya Setu, designed to detect and test suspected cases and tracing people at risk, are all being explored to fight the pandemic and normalize the situation.

It all boils down to who is driving whom? The creator or the creation? With data being used at a lightning speed, it is the creation that is driving the creator, whereas it should be the other way round.

For instance, the purpose of the Aarogya Setu App is to monitor and control the spread of the infectious disease — The Novel Coronavirus. The use of GPS to track location 24*7 along with possessing complete user data information brings out some major questions on the privacy of the people across India.

We might get back on our feet riding on the back of AI post-COVID-19 however, it will take a long time to come out of the real problem and swap the remote-control button into the hands of the creator — i.e. human beings. For now, it is natural that one will prioritize survival to privacy risks.

We should constantly remind ourselves that humans have an advantage over AI. We have the benefit of learning from past experiences and then applying them to situations based on our abstract knowledge. However, AI on the contrary can only suggest possible solutions for the problems that are pre-stored. What we often fail to understand is that it is not the technology that is making all the wonders but rather the knowledge and creativity of the humans who use it.

This constant reminder will let us identify new and innovative ways to leverage what AI can do for the greater good without compromising on privacy.