I’m paid to write about technology for a living, but those who’ve met me or read my work regularly know I also like to keep technology at least at arm’s length in my personal life. That’s why I found it shocking that almost two-thirds of respondents to a recent Oracle survey want AI as their boss. [related]
The recent global survey found that 64 percent of more than 8,000 respondents said they didn’t just embrace AI — they would actually trust it more than their manager, according to a report in The Boston Globe.
Half of the respondents in the survey, conducted for the software giant Oracle and the executive development firm Future Workplace, said they used some form of AI at work, up from a third the year before, the Globe says.
“Compared to the previous year’s survey, uncertainty about AI is down, and excitement is up,” according to the report.
AI as Your Boss? No Thanks!
Once again, I find myself in the minority. Sure, I think the potential for AI to help people better understand and improve their businesses is great, but I’ll pass on having to check with a computer when I want to take a day off or have a question about a story idea.
“Artificial intelligence…has become far more powerful in the last few years. Machine learning, a technique driving much of AI in which computers teach themselves to find patterns, is also advancing rapidly,” according to the Globe report.
“One recent Harvard Business School study even found that AI was better than humans at predicting which jokes people would find funny,” the report says. Hey, if I could get some co-workers—or even family members—to laugh at my dad jokes, maybe I’ll reconsider.
Until then, keep Alexa out of my house, Watson out of my new office’s boardroom and Fiona out of my social media interaction. I’m not overly picky when it comes to the characteristics of those I work for, but I guess the first requirement would be that it’s a human, not a computer.
