Every year comes with a new fad. This year was no exception and this year’s prize must go to artificial intelligence. It is very rare that I deliver a training programme or attend a business meeting and the conversation does not, at one point or other, veer towards artificial intelligence and how information technology will continue to change the way we work and live in a very significant way.

That IT has changed and will continue to change the way we work and live is not something that should be in doubt. All we need to do is challenge ourselves to list a minimum of 20 things that have been rendered obsolete thanks to the smartphone. The list is probably closer to 30. If we find difficulty in listing these 20 things, it is because we have got so much used to the smartphone that we do not miss such things. And these were things which were present in every household.

However, it goes well beyond this point. Invariably, when people start talking about artificial intelligence they start talking of bots and algorithms, that will eventually take the place of the human mind. Some go to the extreme by claiming that one day everything we do will be done by a machine.

Then conversations move to other elements such as blockchain and cryptocurrency (other buzzwords of 2018), and how chatbots are being programmed to teach themselves, and how algorithms are becoming more intelligent.

I do not dispute any of this. What I dispute is two things. Firstly that the human person will become subservient to such technology. A machine, no matter its intelligence, cannot capture an understanding of a person’s visual behaviour or tone of voice because that is specific to each individual. You and I may have the same tone of voice, but we use it in different situations.

The master of the universe remains the human person. Artificial intelligence is a tool and not a replacement of the human person

We react differently to specific situations and a machine cannot capture these different nuances, no matter how intelligent it may be. As long as there is an element of unpredictability in human behaviour (and we do know there is), the chatbot or whatever tool is used, is unable to handle each and every situation.

We can go a bit further. Experience teaches us that at times we address situations through intuition. Intuition is not something one can programme or teach. So technology cannot address situations where intuition is the key rather than reasoned out, pre-programmed decision making.

Admittedly artificial intelligence may help us to churn data quicker and better. Artificial intelligence may also perform tasks better and in a shorter time, when they are pre-programmed to do so. However, its power is limited by the fact that its own power of interpretation is limited by man’s own limitations. Irrational behaviour cannot be pre-programmed.

The second thing I dispute is that the implementation of such technologies can be an easy process. The technical side of the change may be a very easy process. However, the human side of change never is. Change programmes fail mainly because the human side of change has not been catered for. There is not always the recognition that any change process involves a personal transition as much as it involves a technical transition. Moreover, behavioural change occurs at the emotional level and not at the rational level. Therefore the introduction of new technologies may fail if society (defined as “the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community”) rejects them at an emotional level. We may not like the changes that developments in technology bring about, and thus we may seek to resist change or simply cope with it. But change is very often relentless.

On the other hand, I do not believe that tail can ever wag the dog. The dog will always wag the tail. This implies that we need to accept the impact of artificial intelligence in our work and in our lives; but we also need to accept that the master of the universe remains the human person. Artificial intelligence is a tool and not a replacement of the human person.