Chapter 1: Introduction to Entangled AI
To the leader looking at embracing AI in their organisations, this chapter presents a central inquiry: What purpose are we serving? This essential question is deeply personal to every leader and unique to every organization. It goes to the heart of the organizational values we all work for in terms of how we serve humanity and the planet. It is more than just the simple return on AI investment mantra we hear from the techno-optimists. Every citizen I have surveyed in researching this book believes we are here for something more than that. Understanding human-technology entanglement is critical for rethinking and reshaping AI technology development and enablement. Past technology-led business transformation practices have limited application in managing the unique challenges posed by intelligent technologies. Many legacy practices have experienced high failure rates spanning several decades, which arguably stem from a persistent lack of appreciation of the pervasiveness of human-machine entanglements. Renewed mindsets and approached are needed in the AI era, to avoid us replicating the inequities and diminishing returns of the status quo.
This is your call to action. The world has plenty of so-called innovators, changemakers, and disruptors, especially amongst technology startups and major tech corporations. Despite their admirable enthusiasm, they’re all still operating in an old-world model of command and control. They’re mostly busy with “breaking things” in the name of innovation but may be in fact replacing one flawed system with another – and in the process cultivating greater economic concentration while weakening our social and earth systems. What we need right now are “world builders”. People who are nurturing new organizations and new human-machine systems that aren’t tethered to the legacy of the past. And AI is both enabling and challenging them to do just that.
Are you ready to be a world builder? If so, read on.
Entanglement-AI 