TToday, people are using AI to help them do their jobs. Eventually, most AI will be used in other AI systems, said Matt Wood, PwC's head of global and U.S. commercial technology and innovation.
In a recent episode of the podcast The Most Interesting Thing In AI, Wood, who has a PhD in machine learning, laid out his vision for how AI can be used to get work done within organizations. At the lowest level, AI systems collaborate with other AI systems to handle operational tasks such as supply chain logistics. At the top layer, humans collaborate with AI systems on creative tasks such as brainstorming and problem exploration. At the top level, humans collaborate with other humans through discussions and meetings, but they should be better prepared because the preparation work and data processing is already being done by or with AI.
We spoke to Wood about this vision and what kind of work he thinks humans and AI will eventually do. Below are excerpts from that conversation. Edited for length and clarity.
How should employees think about which parts of their jobs will eventually be handled by AI or will continue to be handled by AI?
One thing we all have to come to terms with is that we need to re-evaluate our own professional identities and re-evaluate where our professional pride lies. Because, to answer your question, just like computers are better at certain tasks today, AI systems will not only be more efficient, they will be better at very specific tasks than we are.
The idea that AI systems are good for first drafts or useful for getting started is all true. But computers are only better at some things than we are, so they will only be a small part of how we use AI in the future.
To me, it makes a lot of sense in the world to lean towards computers being better. If we believe that AI is better than us, we have a duty to remain unbiased. That's probably not all.
The idea that AI will completely wipe out all economically valuable jobs is not a reality. Because we don't want that. We're not going to be on a Wall-E spaceship floating above our beds by choosing not to work. My bet is that we will choose to tackle an increasingly compelling set of problems, and that AI systems will help us explore those problems.
We're not there yet. The best option at this point is to recognize short-term shortcomings and limitations and work hard to avoid them. And let's assume that AI that is infallible and available at virtually no cost is just around the corner. Not because it's coming tomorrow, but that's clearly the path we're on.
What types of work do you think will be included at the bottom layer, where AI systems collaborate with other AI systems to complete work?
This will be primarily operational and transactional work. This will be your first layer. Mostly transactional, high-volume, repetitive, and ongoing work. Not just because it's a small task. There will be AI systems that will only be operational for a few months. It may actually take about the same amount of time as a human, but the quality of the output will be better than a human. Not planning for a world where AI systems are largely consumed by other AI systems is betting on gravity.
What tasks do you think humans are better at than AI?
Perhaps humans will continue to want to spend time with other humans. Humans have a real need to come together, discuss, debate, and reason logically to solve problems. I think the future of work will be such that humans spend much less time doing those kinds of activities and much less time preparing for those activities. Preparation is done one-on-one with a series of agents to help prepare you for debates and discussions.
I think the work will be like that, [whether] We retain our creativity and judgment.
I think machines will eventually become more creative than humans. Machines have better judgment than most humans. [But] I think we love to get together, and we love to get together in front of a whiteboard and teach each other, talk about how we think about issues, and influence each other in relatively small groups and large groups. There's no doubt that there will be all kinds of AI systems to support that discussion in real time. I don't think we'll ever reach a situation where AI is out of the picture. We will increasingly rely on it to support those types of activities.
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