People Need to Come First When We Use AI Andy Marken June 5, 2026
0 Comments
It's just surviving. Life's very existence requires destruction. Calvin doesn't hate us. But he has to kill us in order to survive. - Hugh Derry, Life, Columbia Pictures, 2017
Unless you're someone like Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; or Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI; we know you have mixed emotions, concerns, indifference, apathy or optimism when it comes to AI and the work you do, so let's put things in perspective.
According to the World Economic Forum, every day, about 67,000 people turn 65 while a report by Challenger, Gray and Christmas estimated that 49l people will lose their jobs to AI.
Source - Reddit
Yep, you have a better chance of getting old than being unemployed by the technology.
Okay, that's not a big consolation but it's an important point in the whole AI discussion because even though we now have over 8.2B people on the planet; and by 2030, the number is projected to rise to 9B, we've got the wrong mix and the numbers are trending in the wrong direction.
Source - United Nations
Today, we have enough people in the working age group but look at the up-and-coming age groups and it won't be long, and we'll be retiring more folks than we add to the workforce.
That's going to put a major strain on the GenZ/Alpha and beyond generations because while the population is slowly growing but it's because0 people are living longer and that will place increased importance for people in the healthcare and eldercare fields.
AI will impact many careers just as technology we now take for granted did in the past.
Typewriters, later computers and then the internet changed the roles and numbers of individuals in the office and administrative support field and the way they worked.
AI will impact those positions yet again.
AI will change the workload in the healthcare and eldercare fields, but more people will be required to work closely and seamlessly with the technology to diagnose and treat patients as well as help the growing senior population live fuller, healthier lives.
AI will focus on what it does best, researching through vast amounts of data that is captured regarding the individual and people around the world to look for similarities, anomalies and develop care options/recommendations based on the specifics of the individual.
In other words, AI will become a digital teammate so the practitioner/care giver can focus on the more vital tasks that require strategic/creative thinking, empathy, emotional depth, intuition and building authentic human relationships.
Source - Gartner
Recognition - It's important that people not accept everything - written/visual - as real and question/recognize AI slop and hallucinations when they are presented. As AI improves, seeing/knowing the difference will become increasingly difficult.
In time, AI will increasingly be able to mimic these human attributes, but it will be difficult if not impossible to replicate them.
Predictions of human-level AI have been made for years and while the technology's video and written output continue to improve dramatically, it falls short when it comes to unique human experiences and cultural context.
Is that an important/vital differentiation?
Take a real-world example.
We are again reminded of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and soviet vice admiral Aleksandrovich Arkhipov who went down in history as the man who prevented nuclear war.
Two of the vessel's senior officers - including the captain - wanted to launch their nuclear torpedo and destroy the American vessels, even though it meant the death of their crew as well.
But to launch, all three senior officers had to agree, and Arkhipov refused to sanction the launch and his discussion of all of the pros/cons, emotional/humanitarian effects he cooled the situation down and disaster was averted.
One person made the decision to vote counter to the logical solution because it just didn't feel right.
Would we still be here if AI had been making the decisions?
Despite this, business, industry and governments run toward the eternal flame that promises faster, easier decisions/actions and profits with the least amount of effort or work.
Grand View Research
Promising Return - AI firms are rushing to flood the market with newer, better tools and products0 while companies and individuals increase their use of the technology to reap the0 benefits and profits.
They did note though that, if possible, they were going to transition staff from disappearing roles into new ones that are becoming increasingly important to the organization to keep them relevant and profitable for the organization.
Of course, not every organization is willing to invest the time and money to help people make that transition.
We know of one firm in California that was simultaneously carrying out staff reductions while hiring new people who were more AI savvy workers.
Source - Gartner
The company is far from unique.
However, we have to step back from the hire to fire cycle because of the negative impact it has on people and organizational reputations.
Despite these ill-conceived moves, the global rush to implement AI is far from grim.
Europe's AI-related job roles increased 19 percent-especially in Germany, France and theNetherlands-while in India, AI-related employment grew 49 percent year-over-year and was heavily driven by AI service providers.
Africa experienced a 12 percent AI-driven job increase while the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 47 percent of the global AI job creation with China and South Korea leading the growth.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE invested more than $3.2B in AI education and workforce enhancement resulting in a 28 percent AI job increase in the region while Lain America had a growth r
