AI will not only take away jobs, but also impact the connections between people.

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Editor's note: How will artificial intelligence change our interpersonal relationships? While people focus on the impact of AI on employment and the economy, this article turns its attention to a more core humanistic proposition - the survival and connection of interpersonal relationships. In an era when technology can replace most skills, trust, collaboration, and empathy between people are the irreplaceable core values. This article is from a compilation, hoping to inspire you.

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Nowadays, when people discuss artificial intelligence, most of the focus is on the technology itself: which jobs will be eliminated? How should the education system be adjusted? When machines take over the work that humans used to do, what kind of changes will the economy face? Governments around the world have issued relevant reports, corporate managers have started to adjust organizational structures, and educators are also rewriting courses.

These issues are all very urgent. But there is another equally important issue that we can actively make changes to: what will humans themselves become? It doesn't refer to our positions or work outputs, but the emotional connection between people, the sense of life value, and the ability to get along with each other heart to heart as the same kind.

I can't solve the problems at the economic and industry structure levels. But in the past two decades, I have worked with managers from all walks of life in 20 countries around the world and have long noticed the potential crisis. What I'm most worried about is not the disappearance of individual jobs, but what disappears along with them.

Interpersonal problems that need to be faced urgently

Every industry change brought about by artificial intelligence will ultimately turn into an interpersonal communication problem. Only by facing this problem directly can we have a chance to start solving it.

The continuous disappearance of grass - roots positions

The reduction of grass - roots positions will first cause a fault in talent delivery, which has already attracted the attention of all sectors. But it also hinders the cultivation of interpersonal communication skills, and its importance is no less than the former.

Newcomers often learn how to cooperate with others in grass - roots positions. Professional skills can be quickly learned with the help of artificial intelligence, far more efficiently than various training courses. And the life - long useful social skills in the workplace can only be polished slowly in practice: how to deal with difficult colleagues; how to win the trust of others without real power; how to read the on - site atmosphere, make up for work mistakes, and build personal reputation in repeated communications.

If these positions for exercising abilities are lost, where should people learn to work with others and become popular partners?

Knowledge has become easily accessible

Now everyone can obtain a vast amount of information with the help of artificial intelligence. So what should we rely on to highlight our own value? It's no longer knowledge reserve, because artificial intelligence knows more. The real gap lies in the way of thinking, cooperation ability, and the courage to question the established views.

Independent thinking has never been a one - person thing. It takes shape gradually in interpersonal communication: mentors urge you to break through your self - limitations, colleagues sincerely put forward different opinions, and the team polishes your ideas repeatedly, ultimately giving birth to a more perfect plan. When everyone relies on artificial intelligence to obtain knowledge, the risk is not only that we will gradually lose the ability of independent thinking, but also that we will lose the interpersonal relationships that teach us to think.

The traditional education model is being impacted

Since artificial intelligence can teach knowledge more efficiently than classroom teaching, what is the real meaning of education? Perhaps the essence of education has never changed: it is not just about transmitting information, but also about shaping a complete person.

The relationship between teachers and students will affect a person's growth trajectory. Classmates teach us cooperation, empathy, and the ability to withstand pressure. Mentors can always see your shining points when you haven't discovered your own potential. If we simplify education into a simple knowledge output just because artificial intelligence can transmit content at a lower cost, we will completely lose the interpersonal bonds that the education system has built over a long time.

The value exchange model has changed

This is the problem that worries me the most: if all goods and services are completed by artificial intelligence and no longer require human labor, how should ordinary people participate in economic activities? When the jobs we rely on to make a living disappear, what can we rely on to cover our daily consumption? Economists may spend decades studying this difficult problem.

Under the economic problem, there is a deeper human nature test: when labor input is no longer linked to labor remuneration, where should people's dignity, sense of value, and self - identity be placed? Work has never been just a means to make a living. It makes us belong to a team, identify with common goals, and integrate into a collective where we need each other. Once this sense of belonging disappears, where will we go?

There are gaps appearing in interpersonal bonds

All the above changes point to the same core problem, and we must take action immediately. The various systems that maintain interpersonal relationships at present are being impacted one by one.

Offices, work teams, campus classrooms, career promotion channels... These are not only carriers of economic operation, but also important platforms for maintaining interpersonal relationships. We establish indispensable emotional connections in the workplace and life here, and now, these platforms are being reshaped simultaneously.

I divide interpersonal relationships into four types: allies, supporters, competitors, and opponents. A real ally, regardless of ability level or amount of information, truly thinks about the other person. Becoming an ally means: I help you not because you can bring benefits to me, nor do I value your position and performance. I just simply hope that you as a person can achieve success.

This way of getting along has always been the foundation of high - efficiency teams, stable enterprises, and fulfilling careers. In the era of artificial intelligence, it is even the only foundation for standing, because most of the skills that used to distinguish people's ability levels can now be replaced by automated technologies.

Charlene Li, the author of Leveraging Artificial Intelligence, put it very clearly: "Implementing artificial intelligence has never been a technical problem. In the final analysis, it is a human problem, and it has always been like this."

Her research found that managers who rely on knowledge reserve and monopolize information to establish authority are now struggling in the era of artificial intelligence; while managers who rely on interpersonal relationships and trust to stand firm and change from "having all the answers" to "asking high - quality questions" can rise with the trend.

This change is not limited to the management level, but is the development trend of the whole society. In the era of artificial intelligence, your value does not lie in how much knowledge you have, but in how the people around you view you and your way of getting along with others.

Things that artificial intelligence can never replace

This article is not deliberately exaggerating a pessimistic mood. The change has indeed come, and the problems objectively exist. But the reason why I don't talk about the economy or education policies is that I have been deeply involved in the interpersonal field for many years: the emotional connection between people is the key to solving all existing problems, but now people always regard it as an optional accessory.

The World Health Organization has specially established a Social Connection Committee because loneliness and interpersonal alienation have evolved into a global health crisis. These problems will greatly increase the risk of stroke and heart disease. According to statistics, about a hundred people die from these reasons every hour around the world. Interpersonal connection is by no means a "soft topic" that is illusory. It is a structural issue related to social operation.

The problems related to jobs, education, and the economy will eventually find solutions. But the problem of interpersonal alienation can't wait for policy documents and research reports. As Charlene said: "When using artificial intelligence, the more people - centered rather than technology - centered we are, the better our situation will be." This people - oriented concept will not be realized out of thin air. It depends on each of our choices and whether we are willing to treat the people around us with care.

The current stage is not just a simple reshaping of professional skills. The Industrial Revolution not only turned farmers into workers, but also completely subverted the old work and life models. Handicraftsmen could not seamlessly transform into factory workers. But even after such great changes, the new world still can't do without human hands, judgment, and companionship.

The changes brought about by artificial intelligence are completely different in nature and scope of influence. The future intelligent system may no longer require human participation as in the past, or even not require humans at all. This has gone beyond the scope of labor planning and risen to the level of the meaning of human existence.

We can't wait for others to solve the problems. Maintaining interpersonal connections is everyone's responsibility. Care more about your colleagues around you, actively guide your junior partners, and make more phone calls to greet... These seemingly small actions are the cornerstones of building interpersonal bonds.

The sincere emotional connection between people is something that can never be replaced by automation, and it should also be the most worthy thing for each of us to manage with heart.

Translator: Teresa