Will Al make humans useless - Akram Awad

You're listening to ted talks daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, elise Hugh. Imagine waking up to find that the job you built your entire life and identity around can be outperformed by AI in this talk. AI futurist akram awad explores how this is becoming a reality for many people. But as they lose a sense of identity, akram says we need to to fill up the spaces and communities to help them rediscover who they really are. He offers a framework for that re -imagining.

你每天都在听ted演讲，我们每天都会给你带来新的想法，激发你的好奇心。我是你的主持人，elise Hugh。想象一下，在这次演讲中，你醒来时发现，你一生和身份所围绕的工作可以被人工智能超越。人工智能未来学家akram awad探讨了这是如何成为许多人的现实的。但随着他们失去身份感，阿克拉姆说，我们需要填补空间和社区，帮助他们重新发现自己的真实身份。他为这种重新想象提供了一个框架。

Imagine waking up tomorrow. And realizing your job, everything that you've trained for, everything that made your parents proud, everything that made you feel useful is no longer needed. Not because you've done anything wrong, but simply because an AI algorithm can now do it better. Take the example of elena, a medical doctor in Dubai.

想象一下明天醒来。意识到你的工作，你所接受的一切训练，让你父母感到自豪的一切，让你觉得有用的一切都不再需要了。不是因为你做错了什么，而是因为人工智能算法现在可以做得更好。以迪拜的医生elena为例。

For years, she was trusted with life and death decisions. But today, AI systems can diagnose diseases, can design treatments, can even conduct consultations. In fact, our hospital is already considering cutting the head count of a human physicians. Elena is wondering.

多年来，她被赋予了生死攸关的决定权。但今天，人工智能系统可以诊断疾病，可以设计治疗方法，甚至可以进行咨询。事实上，我们医院已经在考虑减少人类医生的人数。埃琳娜在想。

If AI machines can take over most of medicine, what is left that only a human doctor can do? For millions like elena around the world. This is not science fiction anymore. This is an unfolding reality, and the part that worries me the most is that we might be heading toward not just a job crisis. But also a purpose crisis. But what if we are looking at this the wrong way? What if AI isn't the end of purpose, but rather the beginning for a new way to imagine it? I work with country leaders around the world. To shape national AI agendas, build digital economies and design cities of the future. And no matter where I go and how technical the agenda is, I almost always end up hearing the same questions.

如果人工智能机器可以接管大部分药物，那么还有什么只有人类医生才能做到的呢？对于全世界数百万像埃琳娜这样的人来说。这已经不是科幻小说了。这是一个正在发展的现实，最让我担心的是，我们可能不仅会走向就业危机。但也是目的危机。但是，如果我们以错误的方式看待这个问题呢？如果人工智能不是目的的终点，而是一种新的想象方式的开始呢？我与世界各地的国家领导人合作。制定国家人工智能议程，建设数字经济，设计未来城市。无论我去哪里，无论议程多么技术性，我几乎总是听到同样的问题。

The first one is practical.

第一个是实用的。

If AI is going to take over our jobs. How are we going to survive? How will we pay our bills?

如果人工智能将接管我们的工作。我们该如何生存？我们将如何支付账单？

Now that is the elephant in the room. Yes, and indeed governments and economists must start working very urgently to redesign the very systems that have been sustaining our communities. But that's not the question I want to focus on today. Because the second question runs even deeper. Will AI make us useless?

这就是房间里的大象。是的，事实上，政府和经济学家必须开始非常紧急地重新设计支撑我们社区的系统。但这不是我今天想关注的问题。因为第二个问题更深入。人工智能会让我们变得无用吗？

If we don't work, then who are we? If I don't produce. Do I even still matter?

如果我们不工作，那我们是谁？如果我不生产。我还重要吗？

See for centuries.

看了几个世纪。

We've tied our identity and our worth to what we do. Farmers factory workers Co consultants work and jobs became the organizing and defining principle of our society in modern life. But it wasn't always this way. Before the industrial revolution, our identity came from faith, from family, from community.

我们把自己的身份和价值与我们所做的事情联系在一起。农民、工厂工人、共同顾问的工作和工作成为我们现代生活中社会的组织和定义原则。但事实并非总是如此。在工业革命之前，我们的身份来自信仰、家庭和社区。

Work was part of life, but it wasn't the very definition of it. Then came industrialization, and we didn't just industrialize production. We also industrialized identity.

工作是生活的一部分，但它并不是生活的定义。然后是工业化，我们不仅仅是将生产工业化。我们也实现了身份的工业化。

What do you do? Became shorthand for who are you? And AI today is dismantling fully that model. AI is automating tasks across the board, in manufacturing, in logistics, in design, in customer services. Even in creative work, AI today can compose music, can design codes, can illustrate books and weigh much more. In fact, the world economic forum predicts that by this year,2025. AIwill be doing more tasks than humans, and hundreds of millions of jobs are at risk.

你是做什么的？成为你是谁的简写？如今，人工智能正在彻底颠覆这种模式。人工智能正在全面自动化制造、物流、设计和客户服务中的任务。即使在创造性工作中，今天的人工智能也可以作曲、设计代码、为书籍绘制插图，而且重量要大得多。事实上，世界经济论坛预测，到今年，即2025年。AI将承担比人类更多的任务，数亿个工作岗位面临风险。

But this isn't just about jobs.

但这不仅仅关乎就业。

This is about meaning.

这是关于意义的。

This is about dignity. This is about what happens when the one thing that once gave us value. Becomes obsolete. And if we're not careful? We might all be heading toward a great depression by this time not of income but of identity. Let me introduce a framework for human roles in the age of AI. I call it the gap circles. The guardians. The adapters and the Pioneers. Let's first start with the guardians. These are people that will be driven by our survival as a humanity.

这关乎尊严。这是关于当曾经给我们价值的一件事发生时会发生什么。变得过时了。如果我们不小心呢？到这个时候，我们可能都会走向大萧条，不是收入，而是身份。让我介绍一个人工智能时代人类角色的框架。我称之为间隙圈。监护人。适配器和先驱者。让我们先从监护人开始。这些人将受到我们人类生存的驱动。

They'll be working in medicine, in biology, in pharmac, in climate sciences, but even their roles will be heavily redefined and reshaped by AI. Take the same person, elena, the medical doctor, now a human validator in an AI LED immunology lab. The lead scientist in her lab isn't a human, but an AI trained on global biomedical data. Elena leverages her medical knowledge to ensure that the output is ethically sound and human relevant. Next we have the Pioneers. Those are driven by curiosity rather than survival. And to be clear, these two don't always go hand in hand. They'll be the physicists. The scientists, the explorers, the astronauts, the philosophers. A logistics manager whose job has been fully replaced by AI might find himself leaning to an old passion for astronomy and stargazing and planetary systems, and he uses AI powered upkilling tools to become a cosmic systems architect.

他们将在医学、生物学、药学和气候科学领域工作，但即使是他们的角色也将被人工智能重新定义和重塑。以同一个人为例，医生elena，现在是AI LED免疫学实验室的人类验证者。她实验室的首席科学家不是人类，而是接受过全球生物医学数据训练的人工智能。Elena利用她的医学知识来确保输出在道德上是合理的，并且与人类相关。接下来我们有先锋队。这些都是出于好奇心，而不是为了生存。需要明确的是，这两者并不总是齐头并进。他们将是物理学家。科学家、探险家、宇航员、哲学家。一个工作完全被人工智能取代的物流经理可能会发现自己倾向于对天文学、观星和行星系统的旧热情，他使用人工智能驱动的升级工具成为一名宇宙系统架构师。

What a mouthful for a job title, anyway. He works with an AI that is trained on decades of astrophysics data. Together, they simulate the cosmos.

不管怎样，对于一个职位来说，这真是令人难以接受。他与一个基于数十年天体物理学数据训练的人工智能一起工作。他们一起模拟宇宙。

And they explore together. What lies in the universe behind our understanding? And maybe one day you'll never know they might discover aliens. Sandwiched between the two are the adapters, the largest and probably most overlooked circle or group. Those won't be measured by their output or their titles, but rather by how they live, how they connect and how they create meaning. A graphic designer might find herself rethinking her place in this world as AI automates most of her work, so she pivots to community based creativity. She runs community art workshops, takes care of her father and runs and hosts a podcast on emotional intelligence. Now, she's not traditionally employed, yes, but she deeply contributes to her community.

他们一起探索。我们的理解背后的宇宙是什么？也许有一天你永远不会知道他们可能会发现外星人。夹在两者之间的是适配器，这是最大的，可能也是最容易被忽视的圆圈或组。这些不会通过他们的产出或头衔来衡量，而是通过他们的生活方式、他们的联系方式以及他们如何创造意义来衡量。平面设计师可能会发现自己正在重新思考自己在这个世界上的地位，因为人工智能自动化了她的大部分工作，所以她转向了基于社区的创造力。她经营着社区艺术工作室，照顾她的父亲，并经营和主持一个关于情商的播客。现在，是的，她传统上没有工作，但她对社区做出了巨大贡献。

Now, some of you might be thinking, this sounds like a new class system. And in some ways it is. But it's not going to be based on wealth or status.

现在，你们中的一些人可能会想，这听起来像是一个新的班级制度。在某些方面确实如此。但这不会基于财富或地位。

The guardians and the Pioneers might be the elites of the future, but it's not for what they own, but rather for what they contribute. So legacy, not money, becomes the currency of aspiration in the future. And these circles are likely to be fluid, so a guardian today might become an adapter. In the future, an adapter might push themselves to become a pioneer, and so on. And as AI continues to reshape work, these roless might shrink in their scope, but they will certainly expand in their meaning or value. And make no mistake, the adapters themselves will not be passive. They will also seek recognition, not wealth accumulation. Because in a world that is driven less by money and more by contribution, recognition becomes the new status symbol. Now, you might ask. How can we make this real?

守护者和先驱者可能是未来的精英，但这不是因为他们拥有什么，而是因为他们做出了什么贡献。因此，遗产，而不是金钱，成为未来愿望的货*。这些圈子可能是流动的，所以今天的监护人可能会成为一个适配器。未来，适配器可能会推动自己成为先驱，等等。随着人工智能继续重塑工作，这些角色的范围可能会缩小，但它们的意义或价值肯定会扩大。毫无疑问，适配器本身不会是被动的。他们也会寻求认可，而不是财富积累。因为在一个不那么受金钱驱动，更多受贡献驱动的世界里，认可成为了新的地位象征。现在，你可能会问。我们怎样才能让这成为现实？

First.

第一。

We need to rethink how we compensate contribution.

我们需要重新思考如何补偿贡献。

As AI reduces the need for traditional work, we need to design new systems that can bring value and security beyond the paychecks, ensuring that everyone has guaranteed access to the minimum level of resources that would allow them to live with dignity. But beyond that foundation, the additional earnings people will be able to make should depend on how they spend their time. Through the small, meaningful acts of contribution that they can bring to their society, like caring for an aging parent or planting a public garden, through the connections they nurture and the new meaning they add in their communities.

随着人工智能减少了对传统工作的需求，我们需要设计新的系统，这些系统可以带来薪水之外的价值和安全，确保每个人都能保证获得最低水平的资源，让他们有尊严地生活。但除此之外，人们能够获得的额外收入应该取决于他们如何度过时间。通过他们可以为社会带来的小而有意义的贡献，比如照顾年迈的父母或种植公共花园，通过他们培养的联系以及他们在社区中增加的新意义。

Second, we need to rewire education not only for skills, but also for character, emotional intelligence, ethics, resilience, creativity.

其次，我们需要重新调整教育，不仅要培养技能，还要培养品格、情商、道德、韧性和创造力。

Education must prepare people not only to earn, but also to belong. Said.

教育不仅要让人们做好赚钱的准备，还要让人们做好归属感的准备。说。

We must invest in our emotional infrastructure.

我们必须投资于我们的情感基础设施。

As jobs disappear, so will identities. And we need the spaces and the communities that can help people rediscover who they really are. And finally, we need the ecosystem that would allow us to test all of these ideas today. Cities and campuses where we can pilot to new ways for contribution, for recognition and for belonging. Imagine waking up every morning to a daily feed not filled with stock prices, but these beautiful small contributions around you. Who helped a child? How to read today? Who composed a new music that lifted spirits? Who mentored someone in line, who gave an inspiring ted talk today? Each of these tasks and acts might be small on their nature, but together they become the heartbeat of the society. And let's be honest. This isn't just about policy. This is about the very foundation of our society. Our communities have been built on a simple loop. People work, earn, accumulate and spend. Government tax that labor to fund public life. But in a world where that traditional work disappears, that law breaks the assumption that productivity means purpose, or that income means contribution. All of that. Has to be revisited and reimagined. So the real question in the future isn't when AI make us useless, but rather, what do we choose to become when we no longer have to work just to survive? And if that future sounds a bit abstract? I want each one of you to think about the most meaningful and special moments in your life, the ones that you remember when you are either alone or surrounded by those who you love. Did these moments happen at your desk? Or were there moments of connection, of creativity and compassion? That is the future we can and we should build?

随着工作的消失，身份也会消失。我们需要能够帮助人们重新发现自己真实身份的空间和社区。最后，我们需要一个生态系统，让我们今天能够测试所有这些想法。在城市和校园里，我们可以探索新的贡献、认可和归属方式。想象一下，每天早上醒来，你看到的不是股票价格，而是你周围这些美丽的小贡献。谁帮助了一个孩子？今天怎么读？谁创作了一首令人振奋的新音乐？谁指导了排队的人，谁今天做了一场鼓舞人心的ted演讲？这些任务和行为在本质上可能都很小，但它们共同成为了社会的心跳。说实话。这不仅仅是政策问题。这关乎我们社会的根基。我们的社区建立在一个简单的循环之上。人们工作、赚钱、积累和消费。政府对劳动力征税以资助公共生活。但在一个传统工作消失的世界里，这项法律打破了生产力意味着目的或收入意味着贡献的假设。所有这些。必须重新审视和想象。因此，未来真正的问题不是人工智能何时让我们变得无用，而是当我们不再仅仅为了生存而工作时，我们选择成为什么样的人？如果这个未来听起来有点抽象呢？我希望你们每个人都能思考生命中最有意义和最特别的时刻，那些你独自一人或被你爱的人包围时记得的时刻。这些时刻发生在你的办公桌上吗？或者，是否有联系、创造力和同情心的时刻？这就是我们能够而且应该建设的未来吗？

But it won't happen by accident. It will take policies, yes, but even more, a cultural reset. We must stop teaching people that their worth will only be measured by their output. And we should start preparing people for a future and a world where work is no longer the center of identity.

但这不会偶然发生。是的，这需要政策，但更重要的是，需要文化重置。我们必须停止教导人们，他们的价值只能通过他们的产出来衡量。我们应该开始让人们为未来和一个工作不再是身份中心的世界做好准备。

Because the age of AI isn't just about testing our technology.

因为人工智能时代不仅仅是测试我们的技术。

It's also about testing our imagination. So let's imagine better.

这也是对我们想象力的考验。所以，让我们想象一下更好的情况。

Let's take this moment not as an ending. But as an invitation.

让我们不要把这一刻当作结束。但作为一种邀请。

To rediscover purpose. To redefine value and to reclaim the very essence of what it truly means to be a human in the age of AI, thank you.

重新发现目的。为了重新定义价值，并重新定义在人工智能时代作为人类的真正意义，谢谢。

That was akram awad speaking at ted at bcg in Dubai in2025.

这是akram awad在2025年迪拜bcg的ted上的讲话。