Amidst the heated debate on the effect of Artificial Intelligence on our economy, our society, and even our survival lies a deeper sense of loss of control, with debates framed as “what will AI do?” This implicit passivity assumes that technology, rather than people, will determine AI’s impact on work. Before we buy into dangerous self-fulfilling prophecies, leaders in technology, business, society – and all of us – need to recognize the twin traps ahead, so we can avoid them.
In 2022, Prof Eric Brynjolfsson identified and named the “Turing Trap”, the mistake of treating the goal of AI as imitating humans so machines can replace them, rather than building systems that complement and extend human capabilities.
