Beyond Automation: Keeping Humans at the Center of AI
Five years ago, much of my work revolved around slow, manual tasks—writing long queries, cleaning spreadsheets, and waiting hours or days for results. Today, many of those same tasks take minutes. AI can write code, analyze data, build models, and surface insights almost instantly.
That speed is impressive. It’s also unsettling.
As AI has moved from experimental to everyday, I keep coming back to a question posed by Richard M. Locke, Dean of MIT Sloan, in his article “Choose the Human Path for AI” published by MIT Sloan Management Review:
Are we using AI to replace people—or to empower them?
How We Got Here So Fast
The pace of change has been staggering. In 2020, AI tools felt niche. By 2023, they were embedded in daily workflows. Now, AI assistants can handle work that once required entire teams. Productivity gains are real—but so is the anxiety that comes with automating tasks we once did ourselves.
That tension is hard to ignore. Every efficiency win comes with an unspoken worry: what happens to the human role?
The Future Isn’t Fixed
What resonated most in Locke’s argument is that the outcome of the AI era isn’t inevitable. We still have choices.
AI can be used purely to cut costs and reduce headcount. Or it can be used to strengthen human capability—freeing people from busywork so they can focus on higher-value thinking. Many people fear AI will destroy more jobs than it creates. That fear is understandable. But there’s another path: using machines to support human judgment, not replace it.
Where Humans Still Matter
AI excels at speed and scale, but it struggles with context. It doesn’t fully understand nuance, motivation, or consequences. It can generate outputs, but it can’t always tell which insight matters—or which message will land poorly with real people.
Human strengths still show up clearly in areas like empathy, creativity, judgment, and the ability to inspire trust. These are the skills that turn information into decisions and data into action.
How Work Is Changing
AI hasn’t eliminated my role—it’s reshaped it. I now spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time asking better questions, evaluating results, translating insights, and thinking through implications. The work is less about producing outputs and more about making sense of them.
That shift requires skills that aren’t easily automated: communication, critical thinking, ethics, and accountability.
Why Small Choices Matter
The way we adopt AI matters. If organizations treat it only as a cost-cutting tool, people lose. If they treat it as a way to build capability, everyone benefits.
Each day brings small decisions: where to automate, where to keep human oversight, and how to use the time AI gives back. Over time, those choices shape whether work becomes more meaningful—or more hollow.
AI will change our jobs either way. The real question is whether we let it strip away our humanity, or help us lean into it.
I’m choosing cautious optimism. Used thoughtfully, AI doesn’t make people obsolete—it makes us more impactful.
And I know which path I’m choosing.