The AI & Automation Revolution Is in Danger from Its Own PR

AIs & Automations Achilles Heel are The People Behind AI & Automation

When brilliant, free-market and tech-minded minds like Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates
warn people that your work will destroy the world you need to address it. Elon Musk is calling for the
regulation of AI shows the AI industry is doing a terrible job of telling its side of the story.

AI is going to transform society. AI combined with robotics, industrial automation, etc. etc. will
dramatically improve life for humans the same way that historys most previous technology revolution.

Agent assisted automation and AI enhanced mechanical and robotic automation will free up untold
hours of many labor, help us solve problems we couldnt previously and create economic value and
drive massive growth.

The conversation rarely centers on these topics. At best, the benefits are mentioned in passing in media
coverage as the story moves on to focus on jobs destruction, self-replicating robots, self-automated
weapons and a massively homicidal singularity.

Yes, there will be massive shifts in jobs and a lot of positions and many jobs will be eliminated. But the
conversation only focuses on job destruction not job creation or value creation. It is not an easy topic
but it needs to be addressed directly and by its advocated before the dubious 47% statistic being thrown
around becomes the reflex to every discussion of AI and jobs.

Hollywood isnt our friend here but it could be. Movies need villains and in a global movie industry we
are short of villains that nobody can defend. You can only choose Nazis and aliens so much, so this
means more AI villains. You can retell Frankenstein frequently if you have new monsters and better
special effects.

If we turn the corner then AI could be a tool that movie cops use to foil crimes or terrorism. It should be
the deus ex machina that cures the zombie plague in the last few minutes of the movie. It should be the
tool that helps the astronaut get home again against all odds but I havent see any of that. Table the
Ultron vs. J.A.R.V.I.S comments. It didnt exactly help.

Also, it is time to stop having contests pitting people against machines. Early on it proved that machine
learning could master increasingly complex activities. Enough, we dont need a video every time AI
learns a new game like some helicopter parent. At this point, these beg unhelpful comparisons to
human intelligence. We dont need any more Watsons beating humans on TV. That perpetuates the idea
that this is a zero-sum game and it is us against the machines.

Look at some common stereotypes of university and startup people ruthless capitalists, wild-eyed
libertarian, ivy towered academics and, of course, nerds and geeks. One thing these stereotypes
arguably share is poor reputation for PR. Worse, is another stereotype the idea that people in middle
America just cant get it so why try. I get it, most of my family doesnt understand a bit of what I have
done since college. A grandmother thinks I do PC support. But Elitism against the flyover states is one
of the biggest risk to this industry. It is their world too.
Another thing many of these stereotypes share is a distrust of government regulation. Too often that
makes growing companies and tech ecosystems to ignore the fears of voters and the encroaching it too
late. My alma mater, Microsoft did this with anti-trust accusations and arguable other big tech
companies have done the same. Dont even get me started on Net Neutrality.

Feel free to reject these stereotypes if you like, but stereotypes, fear and oversimplification are the tools
of the doomsayers. Proponents of AI and automation need to step up and drive the conversation. You
cant just keep pointing out that the father of the PC revolution recommending taxes on your labor-
saving technology is ironic and wave it off. If you do then people will reject AI and the fear will make
politicians and others to do foolish things.

The industry needs a (human) face and someone to talk to kids in schools and hit the talk show circuit.
We need someone who can articulate the vision. The key isnt to try to present some Utopian vision.
Some issues are tough and that is why e need to have them. Address the issues head on but lead the
conversation and stop reacting to it. Talk about how we will transition jobs and deal with privacy and
security. Explain how the economic benefits will make us richer and safer. Explain that we need
technologies like this to keep advancing at a time when the volumes of data and traditional code hold us
back from our potential.