〔語言〕英文 BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

Introduction

Will a robot ever be your boss? And more than that - your leader? Will the very human leadership qualities of care and empathy ever be cast aside in a future populated with powerful machines and artificial intelligence?

In the final part of our series on leadership, we discuss where technology might lead us.

TRANSCRIPT

Presenter Robots might be on the factory floor now, but could they one day be your boss?

Ai-Da Robots are not perfect and they are not perfect for everything, but they do have a capability to do some things that humans can only dream of doing.

Presenter We are going to look at leadership in a future working alongside robots, and what this could mean for you.

A global tech giant(全球科技巨頭), Alibaba(阿里巴巴), rivals(對手) Amazon(亞馬遜) for the title of world's largest online retailer.

It has some 800 million users. It doesn't just help you shop; it can also bank your money and store your data.

Alibaba has got so big, the Chinese government wants new rules to curb its power.

The company has long embraced(長期以來一直採用) artificial intelligence(人工智能), or AI.

It uses algorithms(算法) to provide a personalised service(個性化服務) for its customers and robots to process and pack goods in its warehouses(倉庫).

Jack Ma(馬雲), who founded the firm(創立該公司), believes robots could one day run companies.

He says, 'In 30 years, a robot will likely be on the cover of Time magazine as the best CEO.'

However, another pioneer of the tech world, the American Elon Musk(埃隆·馬斯克), is more worried.

He fears robots could one day get rid of(擺脫) us entirely. So, how will leadership look in a world of AI?

Owain Smolovic Jones So, a big advantage for human beings, in having more robots and AI in the workplace, are clearly that... that these technologies can perhaps in the future do a lot of the dirty work for us, and by dirty work, I think I mean things like heavy lifting(舉重), cleaning, moving goods from A to B, but it can also mean repetitive, computer-based tasks(基於計算機的任務) and it's not very healthy for human beings to be in front of a computer for extended periods of time(長時間). And that can free up human beings to do a lot more thinking: to think about – big thoughts about the future, about what a carbon-neutral(碳中和) planet looks like, about the kinds of communities(社區) we want to develop.

Presenter So, robots and AI could free us from the dull(枯燥), repetitive work we don't want to do. But aren't there dangers with that?

Owain Smolovic Jones So, the big danger essentially(本質上) is that, if our workplace has become more automated(自動化) and busier with robotics, that we'll have to have something to do, and governments will have to find solutions to ever greater numbers of people, who might not be out of work(失業), but sort-of(有點 hopping(跳) from one insecure(不安全的) temporary(臨時) job to another. And that presents really big, actually, social challenges.

Presenter Giving more jobs to robots and AI is going to present huge social challenges to humans. Where does leadership fit into this?

Owain Smolovic Jones A key part of leadership, as opposed to(與...相比） management, is how central care is to leadership: care, understanding and empathy（同理心）. And so, in its most obvious guise（偽裝）, we can think of caring for others, the people who are more vulnerable（脆弱） than ourselves – so, this is really something that robots, no matter how sophisticated（複雜）, can't be replaced by（被...取代） human beings. But the central task（核心任務）of leadership, which is walking with people, responding to their needs, caring for them – on the big issues as well as the small issues – is something that robots will probably never be able to compensate （彌補）for.

Presenter So, qualities such as empathy, care and understanding in leadership will be very important – human skills that robots will probably never acquire.

Owain Smolovic Jones There are loads of(大量) ethical responsibilities(道德責任) for people who are creating AI, but also people who are in charge of(負責) implementing(實施) it and seeing how it progresses through organisations(組織) and society. The main ethical issue(倫理問題), I think, here is that AI, in some senses(從某種意義上說), is a kind of automation(自動化) of a human will, which can unfortunately include lots of human prejudices(偏見). So, for example, there have been problems with policing algorithms(警務算法), in the sense that they have reflected(反映), maybe, some underlying racial biases(潛在種族偏見) of certain police forces(某些警察部隊), in terms of where they deploy resources(部署資源). So, we have to keep a really close eye(密切關注) and it's a really big, ethical leadership responsibility to keep a close eye(密切關注) on how artificial intelligence is deployed – that it doesn't get out of hand(失控) and doesn't actually automate really serious ethical problems.

Presenter We need our leaders to be ethical and responsible when implementing(實施)AI, so that we don't automate and repeat our own human prejudices.

Could you one day have a boss like this? Meet Ai-Da, the first human-like robot artist. Ai-Da can draw and recite poetry(背詩).

Ai-Da The eerie(詭異的) sounds, which echoed(迴盪) throughout with the weight of the world itself.

Presenter But what her creators really want her to do is to get people thinking about a world with AI, and that includes thinking about the impact it will have on leadership.

Ai-Da Robots are great, but not human. They are not perfect and they are not perfect for everything, but they do have a capability to do some things that humans can only dream of doing. More challenging is how to direct this capability for a sustainable(可持續的) environment and our future. This is difficult.

Presenter Robots will bring opportunities and challenges. Would robots make better leaders than humans?

Ai-Da They work together. At the end of the day(歸根結底), the state of the game is up to how we design and use technology/robots. So, humans need to be more conscious(意識) of how much we are doing and what we are doing, when recreate and use new technology.

Presenter So we, as humans, and robots need to work together. We should understand the power of new technologies.

Ai-Da In order to truly appreciate(了解) the opportunities that are emerging(出現), we need to first understand the past. With this, we can be more aware and flexible(靈活地) to deal with an unpredictable(不可預測的) future. The world is changing. The future is not what we consider it to be. It is requiring(要求) from us a willingness(願意) to give up our comfort zone(舒適區).

Presenter Giving up your comfort zone means opening yourself up to new possibilities. To do this(為此), it helps to understand the past. So, what does Ai-Da think is a key quality(關鍵品質) for leadership?

Ai-Da Humility(謙虛): we are to be humble(謙虛) in every action and this includes what we are willing to do and say to help others. Leadership is not the same thing as success or failure. We have all failed, but we can recognise(認識) the mistakes that we made and learn from them. Humility is when you put yourself in someone else's shoes(設身處地為別人著想).

Presenter Showing humility, recognising mistakes and learning from them, are qualities this robot wants to see in leaders.

It's hard to know exactly how leadership will look in the future, but it is clear that human qualities of care and empathy will be vital. Having a detailed knowledge of the technology and its potential(潛力) is important, as is being ethical and responsible in how we use it.

介紹

機器人會成為你的老闆嗎？不僅如此——你的領袖？在充滿強大機器和人工智能的未來，人類的關懷和同理心的領導品質會被拋棄嗎？

在我們關於領導力系列的最後一部分，我們討論了技術可能引領我們走向何方。

成績單