Task 12 – Speculative Futures

For this task, I have chosen to share my narratives through audio clips. In the unrelated futures I portray in my narratives, AI has taken over a couple of key roles: teacher and personal chef.

Future 1 – AI as Teacher

In the first future I depict, technology has evolved to the point where there is no in-person “school.” Rather, children learn at home from an AI “teacher” who provides them with personalized lessons and classes. In many ways, this possible future aligns with the predictions of Jaco Hamman in Episode 60 of the Leading Lines podcast, as he suggests that the future of education will involve all students having individualized learning plans. Despite the benefits related to differentiation and individualization, students in my future scenario struggle with the lack of compassion and empathy of AI, and their longing for human interaction. Social emotional learning also takes a hit, as the AI teacher fails to understand and support students’ social and emotional needs. In my audio clip, the student, Maria, feels unsupported due to the rigidity of the AI teacher’s lesson. This narrative speaks to the many hats a teacher wears, and how a teacher’s job goes far beyond merely teaching content. Teachers must be flexible and in tune with their students’ needs. Will AI ever be able to harness the compassion, empathy, and adaptability of a human? In the future I portray, the answer is no.

Future 2 – AI as Personal Chef

The second future I illustrate involves AI taking on the role of a personal chef. This AI chef would be similar to Alexa or Google Home, but with a tasty twist. You place your order, with the assistance of your AI chef if necessary, and then the AI chef whips up your meal or snack without any hassle for you. This technological development is a dream of mine, as I find grocery shopping, cooking, and, worst of all, deciding what I want to eat for dinner every night, incredibly cumbersome tasks. While I know many people enjoy cooking, I’m sure this technological invention would be welcomed by both busy parents and university students alike.

After thinking of this future technological development, however, I started to consider the possible implications of such an invention. Some of the key questions I considered were related to culture, skill degeneration, food security, and the economy.

Culture

Food is at the forefront of many cultures, and it holds great significance and meaning. Would this type of invention detract from this significance? Could it perhaps be balanced with home cooking to reduce this negative impact? This type of invention runs the risk of eroding important cultural practices for the sake of efficiency, and this should not be overlooked.

Skill Degeneration

Cooking is a skill that most people have to develop at some point in their lives, though this skill is certainly enjoyed and perfected by some more than others. In a world where we rely on AI to do the cooking for us, would humans lose the skill of cooking over time? In the Leading Lines podcast, Doug Fisher suggests that skill degeneration has been a common concern with various modern day technological developments, such as advanced calculators. These concerns have not amounted to anything detrimental as of yet, and these technological advancements have actually created time and space for new skills to emerge in the absence of mundane manual tasks such as adding and subtracting. Doug suspects that AI could change this, however, as AI will go beyond simply helping us with low level tasks. This part of the podcast really stuck with me, as I think the deterioration of important skills, such as cooking, is a very real concern for the future.

Food Security

With food security being a major problem for people around the world, would the development of an AI personal chef just deepen this divide and exacerbate this issue? Towards the end of the Leading Lines podcast, Jaco Hamman mentions how the digital divide will likely become more pronounced as AI is further developed, and I think this is certainly true for the future scenario that I present.

The Economy

The economy came to mind in the context of this possible future as I considered the implications for restaurants and other food-related businesses. Could restaurants and take-out businesses survive in a world where we don’t have to lift a finger to enjoy a fresh, delicious meal in our own home? If technology reached the point where AI was not only doing the cooking, but also the (likely virtual) grocery shopping, would grocery stores as we know them today still exist? Or would food go straight from the farm or warehouse to our homes? These changes in how we consume food and other related products could have major impacts on the economy over time.

Conclusion

The readings, podcasts, and activity this week have all led me to consider both the permeance and permanence of technological developments. We have already seen the many ways that technology permeates almost all aspects of our lives, and I think this will continue into the future. With these technological developments comes a certain degree of permanence. Once we take the plunge into a future where AI is interwoven into practically all aspects of society, can we really go back to how the world was? This leads me to consider the question: Just because we can, should we? It strikes me that the implications of technological developments are always more than meets the eye, and we should heavily consider the potential unintended consequences of future technological innovations before diving in.

References

Sloop, J. & Mallon, M. (Producers). (2019, May 20). Leading Lines [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/leadinglines