Human 2.0: Thriving as Machines Take on the Grind
How AI Helps Us Reconnect with What Matters and Be Happier
I spent one hour speaking with Dr. Bill Williams LIVE on Friday. Here is an excerpt (using Rev AI Transcription):
Dr. Bill Williams (09:05): Let’s talk about why people have a fear of AI and why AI fails to be implemented because people fear it.
Helen Thomas: I think there are three things. I would start with so-called privacy and security because it’s top of mind for everyone.
It is true that for six decades of computer technology that bring supercomputers, graphic processing units that enable today’s generative AI for the mass audience; and with internet for the past 30 years; and the mobile devices in your hand in the past almost 20 years. So all of that cumulatively kind of give us the gift of this new electricity or enabler. The truth of matter is it’s exponentially faster and more terrifying for people because all of a sudden it’s here, what are we going to do with it? So I think the key is to start with a sort of a proactive approach. That’s why AnyQuest is here to enable everybody to be a participant in that, to train your own AI assistant, to help yourself be happier, learn more, do more things with less time, having the work-life balance if they’d say.
But that has to be enabled by your management, right? Your business, there got to be investment in the literacy in terms of education. When I started at DMAI, the first thing I did, the first just three, six months, we created a white paper. We did interview for people to learn about AI without fear. So number one, it is really about security is you have to be assured that whatever that electricity is is not going to consume you. It’s going to enable you.
I think the second part is really about the algorithm because if it’s a black hole and you have no idea how the machines are manipulating things, data, knowledge, information, then there is this fear, and it’s a legitimate. So by enabling everybody at your desk to have your own workspace enabled by ai, that’s what we’re doing. So we’re doing the fundamentals.
The third, just to save time, I would jump to it, is really about, I would say the value of time and cumulatively how we can be better and more efficient, happier leveraging technology instead of being so-called, being replaced. I think the key thing to do is not to sit on a sideline and be part of it so that you’ll be on the cutting edge. Look at me. I came to this country 30 years ago. I got my first job. I had the accent because I came to this country learning English from a foreign country. My first tool was an IBM laptop. I was the first person using laptop at my first job. That company sent me to UC Berkeley, I got my MBA specialized in marketing. I did many startups. I launched many, many products. And I’m here talking with you as an influencer for AI. It’s time as we learn from our experience, as we learn with time, and be adaptive. That’s our gift as a human being. We’re the most adaptive, efficient, intelligent being on earth (13:44)
Looking back at human history, there were significant milestones and revolutions that transformed humanity and liberated us from survival chores to live with leisure in enriched cultural societies.
Human 1.0: The Journey to Modernity
From our earliest days as hunter-gatherers to the industrialized societies of the 19th century and to the leap of the Information Age today, here are some marked distinct phases of human development:
- The Discovery of Fire: Our ancestors harnessed the power of fire, approximately 1.7 million years ago. This discovery provided warmth and protection and transformed our diet by making food safer, easier to digest and therefore, more nutritious.
- The Agricultural Revolution (Around 10,000 BCE): Human societies transitioned from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settled farming communities. This revolution, which occurred roughly 12,000 years ago, led to surplus food production, the emergence of complex civilizations, and the division of labor.
- The Industrial Revolution (Late 18th to Early 19th Century): Human 1.0 reached its zenith during this period. The Industrial Revolution began in Britain and spread globally. The mechanization of production happened through inventions like the steam engine. It transformed manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture, fueling urbanization and economic growth.
- The Second Industrial Revolution (Late 19th to Early 20th Century): Innovations like electricity, the assembly line, and the automobile increased productivity and transformed society, laying the groundwork for the modern world and marking a further leap in human progress.
- The Information Age (Late 20th Century): Computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web revolutionized communication, commerce, and access to information. This digital transformation democratized knowledge and connected people across the globe.
- The Mobile Revolution (21st Century): The widespread adoption of smartphones and high-speed internet access empowered individuals with powerful computing tools, reshaping personal interactions, consumption of digital content, and commercial transactions.
Today, we find ourselves at the dawn of “Human 2.0.” This is an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is deeply integrated into human society, reshaping the way we live, work, and connect with one another. The AI revolution promises to be the next major milestone in our ongoing evolution, liberating us from repetitive and time-consuming tasks, enabling us to refocus on our core humanity, and redefining the boundaries of what it means to be human.
Human 2.0: Machines at Your Service
The concept of Human 2.0 isn’t about replacing humans with machines; it’s about embracing the symbiotic relationship between us and AI. Imagine a world where AI systems seamlessly handle the mundane, repetitive tasks that drain our energy and time. The key to unlocking this potential lies in integrating AI into our day-to-day work, allowing us to reclaim our time, rediscover our creativity, and forge deeper connections with what truly matters.
Dr. Bill Williams (14:53): People are interested in AI, and they certainly are. So let us know what are your motivations now that you’re so into this, what keeps you going?
Helen Fu Thomas (15:03): I think this is an opportunity to transform how we work, how we live, and how we learn. It may sound like cliche and everybody is saying it, every entrepreneur is saying it, but hopefully I’m walking the walk and not just talking the talk.
The reason is for any knowledge worker, for any entry-level person, it takes tremendous time for you being that learning curve to get information because it’s not just there. You rely on other human beings, your coworkers, your managers, your directors, your management to enable you at your job. What do we try to do with all businesses is to have that AI assistant for you when you first come to your job and it saves you tremendous time. You can learn. You have a very reliable, well trained properiatory workspace enabled by AI. You can converse with it with natural language processing (NLP). It will provide you synthesis, which is a summary and data analytics to give you the insights so that you can perform better. And also your AI system will be there doing some kind of job for you while you’re spending time with your family taking a vacation. And think about this, when you retire, your influence is still there because you build that knowledge base, you build that expertise and it’s retained. And wouldn’t that be awesome for you to believe that your legacy is still there while you may be sailing, hiking, enjoying life after retirement.
And this applies to education. I think teachers, student ratio, the bandwidth of the teacher for every student, every student learns differently. And we could create that space for every student to have equal access, to learn on their own unique journey and to ensure that they would found their fit in college’s work and everything. I truly believe this is what we can do with the technology, but we have to build the ecosystem. We have to enable everybody to be part of it, not to just the top of the world, not just the world of the billionaires. This has to come from everybody from every day, like what you’re doing on your walk. So it’s very exciting.
Dr. Bill Williams (17:53): Thank you for sharing that, Helen. That’s excellent. I want to know what is the motto that you go by at inquest AI
Helen Fu Thomas (18:03): Security! First, we protect properitary information, knowledge. We want to build this with the leadership, with a strategy, with organization. We want to not just bring AI to the workforce, but really enable the workflow that integrate AI as the new electricity. It’s something that could benefit you, but it would be heavily integrated. It’s about a unified way to approach AI as a part of your core competence and strategy or daily work versus AI as this dark force — nobody knows what it’s doing and it just spins out all the clever answers.
The most important piece to close the loop, meaning that you can train your own. I say “train your own dragon”, make your AI work for you instead of generic electricity or superpower. It becomes a part of your journey, your work, your life and learning.
Imagine a world where the repetitive, mundane tasks that often consume our workday are no longer our burden to bear. Picture a reality where machines handle the grind, liberating us to focus on what makes us uniquely human: creativity, innovation, and relationships.
AI has already begun to reshape the way we work and live. From virtual assistants streamlining our tasks to predictive algorithms optimizing our daily routines, artificial intelligence is the silent force that empowers us to be more efficient and effective. It’s the catalyst that enables us to strike a harmonious balance between our professional and personal lives.
One of the most profound ways AI contributes to our well-being is by redefining the concept of work-life balance. With AI handling repetitive and time-consuming tasks, we can retreat from the perpetual grind and focus on what truly matters. This newfound freedom allows us to spend more quality time with our loved ones, fostering deeper connections and creating lasting memories.
AI is not just a tool for streamlining our existing processes; it’s a catalyst for innovation. Automating the mundane allows us to channel our energies into problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking. This surge in creativity benefits us individually and drives progress and innovation on a broader scale, leading to a more vibrant and dynamic society.
AI’s integration into our daily lives extends beyond work and family. It extends to our personal well-being. Technology enhances our quality of life across the board, from AI-powered fitness apps that help us stay healthier to virtual therapists providing support for our mental health.
We are on a path to bring AI into the fabric of our day-to-day existence. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, we can usher in the age of Human 2.0, where humans are free to be more human than ever before.
Learn more: Train Your Own Dragon
