Robot economy will make us smarter

The speed of technological innovations is increasing rapidly. Entrepreneurs with the right innovations at the right time are becoming millionaires and billionaires overnight.

A few decades ago, it was difficult to believe futurists' predictions on what technology would be able to do. Today, things have changed - we listen to futurists in the hope of being better prepared for what is coming. Some listen with excitement and anticipation, while others listen with fear and anxiety.

It is quite strange that we would fear something that we ourselves have created. But we do.

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The scariest element tends to be that technology will make humans irrelevant and redundant in the workplace.

Technological inventions continue to be smarter and faster at doing the jobs we employ humans to do.

But the innovations are going beyond just technical and intellectual abilities.

Just this week, I discovered an app that can read human emotions based on the tone of your voice. I learnt of human-like robots that can visually convey a range of human emotions through facial expressions. This means that technology is becoming better at learning and emulating our emotional intelligence.

Instead of focusing on how technology can make certain roles redundant, what if we focused on technology's ability to complement what we do? It has already enhanced the speed and intelligence with which we solve everyday problems.

When technology starts replacing parts of the jobs we do, it is freeing up our time to focus on the things that really matter.

Look at what technology has been able to do in the world of medicine, for example. The number of gadgets and machines used in medicine are increasing exponentially - not just for medical professionals but also the patients who depend on them. We can do simple check-ups from home and are receiving results much faster and cheaper than before.

This evolution in medical innovations has not left medical professionals redundant. Instead, it has enhanced their efficiency and effectiveness. It has freed up their time so that they can focus on the things that matter.

Since we understand this in medicine, we should similarly be understanding of it when it affects other jobs.

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Millennials are often in trouble for their unpopular views in the workplace, but this is one they have got right. They even get excited when they figure out how technology can make their jobs redundant.

They understand that there is no point in holding onto their role, and refusing to let technology in, especially when innovative competitors will quickly get the edge on them and result in their redundancy, anyway.

Older generations often struggle with this. We are attached to our roles and responsibilities, some of which have not changed for decades.

In a world where innovation is moving as fast as it is, we cannot continue to get away with using humans for the activities that technology can complete in faster and cheaper ways.

The mere mention of this point often raises eyebrows, especially in a country where the unemployment level is as high as it is.

There is always a preference for keeping people in the jobs that they do rather than letting technology in. That is a big shame. Instead of protecting jobs that have become redundant, we should be more focused on upskilling people and redeploying them to roles where they can use their minds and talents, and add value to the economy in other ways.

We cannot continue to get away with using thousands of people to do simple jobs that can be automated.

Let us not waste talent that was not discovered merely because someone did not have the opportunities that allowed them to unleash their talents.

Ultimately, every organisation or country succeeds because of its ability to maintain a distinctive competitive advantage.

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When technological innovations become so effective that they make your competitive advantage indistinctive, it is time to find an enhanced source for a competitive advantage.

This is not the time to give up - it is the time to reinvent and remain relevant in the technologically enhanced future to follow.

There is a saying: "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."

This prediction is valid only for as long as we allow technology to continue to evolve while we do not.

If we can shift towards using it as something that enhances what humans can achieve, we will see a generation of geniuses, not idiots.

zipho@ziphosikhakhane.com

Sikhakhane is a business speaker, facilitator and adviser on leadership, entrepreneurship and Africa, with an MBA from Stanford University