“Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.” —Terminator 2, Judgment Day
When will the machines take over? It has actually already happened.
Machines are currently used to quickly gather and decimate data to drive business, to help us power our day-to-day activity, to add convenience at home, but mostly we use machines to support our global economic infrastructure. You don’t need special mystical powers to see that technology is taking over society’s activities. A look at our education programs shows us our future. The highest paid college degrees in 2015 are all focused around STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The April 2015 issue of Fortune magazine presents data from PayScale on the top 15 graduate degrees. These are all connected to information, technology, and engineering. Economics, business and mathematics as well as Human Computer Interaction (which is engineering based) round out the list. Each one of these majors does one of three things: build the machines, feed information to the machines or use the information from the machines. We are beholden to the machine.
Machines are developed by engineers and are data and information driven. If you have ever watched a sci-fi movie with an evil robot in it, you know that machines are without human feelings and empathy. Research has shown that a connection to human empathy in college students has been dropping since the 1990s. Coincidentally, this corresponds with the rise of the desktop computer. Cue the ominous music.
Humans are underrated, July 23, 2015, Fortune.com (St. Louis Fed from OECD Data)
Enter the Designer
Because machines have taken control of nearly every aspect of our daily lives, the need for human-centric designs and empathy to human interaction has grown more and more vital. Enter the designer; design overlays the human experience on top of the engineering and the algorithms. The importance of the designer grows from the need to incorporate empathy and the human experience into our technology products. This value is beginning to be reflected in the salaries organizations are paying creative directors, user-experience designers and design managers. “Technology has had a very positive effect on the earnings of people in art fields,” says professor Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
Technology has become the harbinger of design. Over the past 25 years, the evolution of technology has changed the relationship between design and machines. Before the computer, designers focused their work on physical pieces. But that relationship began to change in the early 1990s with the development of desktop computers. Computers pushed designers to interact with the machine differently and have also changed the perception and purpose of design. Information Architecture, User Experience, Interface Design, Design Thinking and Product Thinking have all evolved from the need to connect humans to machines. As technology evolved, design evolved with it. Brands need to evolve their designs for the machine as well. The recent Google and Verizon logo updates were both revised and made more scalable on different technology platforms.
Design and the Machine
Harnessing the machine by connecting it to the human experience is the role of design. Whether we are focusing on creating human-centric products or processes that create innovative experiences, design connects the machine to the human experience. Design makes products look and work more effectively, services and relationships will connect stronger to user needs and organizations will have a more comprehensive strategy for long-term growth sustainability and innovation.
We cannot stop the growth and proliferation of the machine, but we can design its intent, expectations, and relationships to human connectivity. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will continue to evolve our technology and the machines will continue to integrate further and further into our lives. STEM subjects will continue to guide our education systems, however we need to adapt and change. The need for empathy between humans and machines will require Design and Education be added to the core subjects. Without design, knowledge and critical thinking, we are doomed to engineer soulless machines that will take over our world.
References:
The 20 Best- and Worst-Paid College Majors
The 5 Highest Paying Degrees of 2015
Best and Worst Graduate Degrees for Jobs in 2015
Why Art School Can Be A Smart Career Move