The writer is a Human Capital Strategist and Educator; meaning she invests in humans like blue chip stocks and teaches them how not to crash the market.
Last week we discussed the cognitive and moral human competences that will sustain us in the AI era: ethics-by-design, critical thinking, lifelong learning and creativity. Building on that, we will now dive into the relational competencies that we must foster for flourishing in the future.
Empathy and Relational Intelligence
Relationships layer our lives with richness, meaning and connection. They grow within us, the gifts of compassionate reflection. AI analyses our expressions, predicts behaviour and simulates expression, but it cannot consciously feel. Genuine empathy arises through empathetic observation, not statistics. While the world gets digitised, what sets us apart is our authenticity and resonance with those who are disadvantaged. Take an example of healthcare where AI has impacted diagnostics and predictive analytics immensely. While it has transformed clinical efficiency, what still remains in the human forte is caregiving, emotional health, therapy, bedside support and ethical choices regarding palliative care, euthanasia or drug trials. The very basis of design thinking, empathy enables innovation for meaningful people-oriented solutioning. Anything worth pursuing in the future will always have empathy at its core, as only that enables us to understand the nuances of what it means to live, and not simply exist.
Problem scoping and Systems Thinking (ST)
An essential competency required to unpack the wicked problems of our world; ST is instrumental to resolving complex issues like climate change, inequality, healthcare, urbanisation and polarisation. It enables us to look at an issue in its entirety, considering the interrelated whole and not just isolated parts. Enabling us to look beyond simplistic cause and effect, it accounts for the complexities of a hyper-connected era. When we apply ST, we can consider the long-term implications of our near-term actions. Education plays an important role in broadening the mind to engage holistically. Teamed with AI, it can help us go beyond the limitations of linear thinking and mitigating the risks of unintended consequences. Thinking of the Iran war, anyone?
Co-intelligence & Collaborative leadership
Future success will be gauged by how humans and AI co-create value. A good collaboration would mean that humans set direction, evaluate for morals, cultural interpretations, ecological sustainability and assess the legitimacy of the trade-offs we make. AI can assess possibilities, benchmark and interpret for unforeseen consequences. By doing so we can lead by owning the outcomes, while improving accuracy and efficiency. AI can also help us collaborate better by taking on the administrative aspects, highlighting discrepancies and generating scenarios; thus, leaving us more time to ideate together. The only way to take an elevated leadership role is by defining the parameters and guardrails for such a partnership.
Entrepreneurship- a foundational employment skill
The true spirit of enterprise stems from human vision. It is our ability to visualise and materialise a future, motivated by our personal interpretation of human needs. It stems from our intrinsic ethic, passion and courage. AI can surpass us at evaluating trends, but it cannot inspire, build trust, empathise, pivot or discern based on intuition. Utilise AI for ideation, execution and commercial modelling. Educational institutions must integrate both entrepreneurship and AI in their curriculum. Interdisciplinary STEAM education augmented by AI will fuel the next-wave entrepreneurship. As a faculty of Life Entrepreneurship (LE) at a prominent international educational institution, I saw this applied firsthand for students. While AI was leveraged for project portfolios, LE helped students seek their higher purpose through reflection, framing problems with empathy and collaborating to lead on community projects. Students were also provided guidance for filing patents thus learning and growing exponentially; to impact not just their own trajectory but also for nation building.
Self-awareness- the human meta competency
Rumi said “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself”. This consciousness of our subjective experience will always remain as our defining human edge. It is the catalyst for all other competencies as it enables our evolution and growth from within. While AI can critique and ask questions based on a coded statistical framework, it cannot introspect or ponder. Combined with critical thinking and empathy, Self-awareness is at the heart of what makes us human. Foster it by setting aside time for reflection, journalling and meditation. Quiet contemplation in nature and solitude makes way for stillness. These are the most profound investments you can make in the age of AI.
All these focal human competencies do not activate in isolation but are intertwined. They are the torchbearers of our humanity and will help us to set an unshakeable foundation for the future; in which we leverage AI for our evolution, to lead a meaningful life. Our destiny in the Age of Augmentation will be determined more by the distinctly human vision and strengths, rather than technology.
