Very short review: This was not a relaxing read.
“So, why did you then read ‘The Last Human Job,'” I ask myself.
In two words, to inform.
I’m in the middle of a lot of AI-related content work as part of the day job. Going into it, I knew I wanted to have an ethical framework stood up in my own brain so that while the job is to, ultimately, sell AI to the masses, in my two worlds of education and healthcare-related technology content marketing, I had a home base to check back in with when the topic became overwhelming or even frightening.
Because AI and its potential can be exhilarating, but yes, also downright frightening.
“The Last Human Job” is a deep dive into the impact of AI in several very specific areas, including education and healthcare. For my line of work, having some insight into how technology is going to impact learning and healthcare practices would be helpful, so I picked this up ahead of a marketing retreat thinking I could read it over a weekend and walk into the event feeling pretty sassy and able to perform a knowledge brain dump so impressive people might think I actually knew what I was talking about.
That was back in October. Hahahahaha.
This book reads more in the style of a sociology text than any other nonfiction I’ve picked up recently. And that’s not necessarily bad. You just need to know this going in so that you don’t blow your eyeballs out trying to read it quickly. The concepts presented aren’t difficult to understand, it’s just … a lot. A LOT.
One of the overarching concepts of the book Pugh leans into is that of connective labor. There’s a lot AI can do, and do well, but connective labor is unique to the human experience. There will be attempts organizations make to “count and script” connective labor, but by and large, the most meaningful instances of the human connection require humans to connect. So.
Pugh spends a significant amount of time detailing how automation has changed how education and healthcare (both physical and mental) are delivered. Some of this automation has had a profoundly positive impact, and other times, not so much. If automation is in deference to chasing the almighty dollar, then in my estimation, you are employing it in the wrong way.
On the other hand, if automation is employed so that tasks can be completed more accurately and more efficiently, allowing coworkers time for what Pugh calls social intimacy, then that’s a step in the right direction. Chatbots are great for call centers, if those chatbots free up human agents to handle callers with the added empathy that’s sometimes required, when, say, a package for a holiday isn’t getting delivered on time. Or someone’s electricity has been cut off and they don’t know what to do.
Automated lesson plans that allow students to proceed through a math curriculum are great if the goal is to allow the teacher to customize learning and engage more closely with his or her students.
Automated note transcription for medical professionals is equally as wonderful if it allows that professional more time with a patient, and NOT, as what often happens, only used to make room for a heavier patient load.
As Pugh closes out the book with, “in the midst of a depersonalization crisis, ‘being seen’ is already in too short supply.” The arguments for and against AI are many — equally optimistic and fatalistic. But everyone can agree on this — it’s not going anywhere and if it hasn’t delivered a pizza to your front door yet, chances are it will in the next couple of years. Remember when we all thought it was fancy to have a bag phone? Yeah, that. So I think the best we can hope for is empathetic, creative approaches in how we embrace the next technological revolution. Connective labor is far too important to turn over solely to the purview of a Bot Nation.
I am almost never this heavy. Want a good old fashioned fun time reading? Click here for my list of reviews.
LitzyDitz 