Klaus Schwab, the founder of the WEF (World Economic Forum) who first used the term “fourth industrial revolution” in Switzerland in January 2016, called the global economic change to include industries that are not defined in the existing industrial classification, followed by the invention of the steam engine, mass production automation, and the combination of IT with industry.
In June 2017, I co-hosted an international symposium in Seoul with KGM LAB, which I am in charge of, and The Berman Klein Center for Internet & Society of Harvard University. At that time, experts gathered to discuss the direction of AI’s policies and norms. The main concern of the listeners was on the kind of talent they needed and the preparation for the loss of their jobs to computers.
Danil Kerimi, a former ICT (information and communications technology) head at Davos Forum, mentioned the need for talent to design computer programs and read society-wide trends, saying that many jobs have been created, and that it is not something to worry about adapting and accepting them naturally as we have adapted to previous changes.
Why is it important that Danil mentioned “designing a program” and “reading an entire society”?
Experts note that A.I. and other areas where people do well are distinctly different. Artificial intelligence is incomparably superior to traditional workers in terms of memory, physical toughness, vision, hearing, and spatial perception. However, creativity, persuasion, negotiation, and speech are deemed better.
So we need the ability that artificial intelligence cannot do, including the ability to ask questions and find answers to those questions. And that’s what Danil pointed out: It’s human to be able to read social trends, and then take the necessary direction and design for social environments. Therefore, the future society will be a world in which human capabilities, such as creativity and empathy, are extremely important. We need to create an education system that is going to build these capabilities, and also develop creative, educated people.
So why do the elite of the world want to visit art galleries and cultivate a sense of beauty? Most often, I point to the limitations of logical and rational information processing technology. There are two main reasons behind this problem. First, since many people have acquired analytical and rational information processing skills, similar conclusions are leaked, resulting in the loss of differentiation. On the one hand, the methodological limitations of analytical and rational information processing technology are cited.
In this world of global economic growth, the world is turning into a huge “market for self-realization.” In order to cope with this market, the emotional or aesthetic sense that stimulates the desire to be recognized and self-fulfillment are more important than the ability to build theoretical and functional advantages and price competitiveness by using precise marketing skills. Against this backdrop, the world’s elite are trying to cultivate a sense of beauty.
Like the Apple organization led by Jobs, aesthetic consciousness is a major factor, and the implications are significant for companies in the formats supported by science and crafts. Unlike in the past, engineers are starting to think about design and build. We need to have converged, emotional thinking in this era.
I’m always asking questions during my lectures at SSU. Why did this writer paint only women? Why could impressionist writers paint outside? Why is there a chair in the middle of this exhibition? They all have a reason.
Get the ability that A.I can’t never have. Ask questions and find answers to the questions. Starting today, I want you to start raising questions.
Yoon Han-na
[Adjunct Professor,
Division of Creative Arts]
