Technology is a tool for human connection – not a replacement for it
If you believed everything you read online, you might think that AI has already aced the interview and become the boss. Are robots coming for your job? Perhaps in time. But adapting to technology rarely runs as planned and the immediate future is much more likely to be a balancing act.
A recent BBC article offers a truer reflection of how technology – bane or boon – is affecting life today. The vignette quotes an advertising executive who is concerned not that AI will replace employees wholesale but that it has become rather too good at forging credible CVs. His issue? Ostensibly qualified, poised and eloquent candidates are arriving at work without the foggiest idea about doing the job.
People promised an easy life served by technology are becoming unmoored from the challenges of navigating it away from a backlit screen. Whatever the future holds, surely some softer skills (knowing how to read a room, manage conflict and deal with people) will remain important regardless of the relentless march of technology.
At Monocle, we’ve always advocated for balance – big-picture ideas and innovations, yes, but also some pragmatism and common sense in how they’re implemented. We’ve now invested in this smart new website, which quietly launched yesterday and of which we’re extremely proud. Today also marks the newsstand and digital launch of our May issue, which includes our annual Design Awards.
There’s a caveat, of course. For our brand – like the world more broadly – technology for its own sake doesn’t make sense without some humanity. Our magazine is sold in 80 countries; we have bureaux around the world; we host events and have shops and cafés. We also employ experienced journalists doing on-the-ground reporting (rather than sitting in their bedrooms on ChatGPT). They go out and meet the people who are making important decisions and coming up with canny ideas. And here’s a promise: all of our stories remain written and edited for humans (not likes, clicks, impressions or conversions) and by humans.
Technology is a tool, remember, not the boss, and we need to consider a better balance between dreaming about tech’s promise and what it does for us today.
