Journal logo

Are We There Yet?

Social behaviour - our species - artificial intelligence.

By Howard TitmanPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
Like

A simplified overview of your employability, the workplace and artificial intelligence.

Looking for a new job? Great expectations and hopes for a better style of life?

The common positive aspects of everyone moving forward through their life.

Step back for a moment to look at the bigger picture. Visualize the social structures in societies and cultures, examine them on conformity. Civilizations have always achieved a peak, and then a decline.

Visualize for example fish in their natural environment. The natural interaction of species and levels of predator and prey. All species have evolved to adapt. Visualize that many species have adopted a process that we call "schooling." They traverse their natural habitat with a particular behaviour pattern. Why? Through time the species has arrived at this social behaviour to avoid extinction. This is the pattern in many species of birds. They travel in flocks that assures the survival of their species.

What have we in our species? We have social groups. The schooling effect in the social groups controlled the court of public opinion. On our current global stage, we have one glaring example of a populous individual. How can that be? How can the court of public opinion elevate to the highest position available? It is a very simple answer. "Everyone’s favourite uncle." The charismatic individual gravitates to the highest position of power and authority.

What about today’s workplace? Are you going to climb that social ladder? Are you going to receive a promotion? If you are seeking outside of your current employment, what are the opportunities? What is the probability of achieving your success?

All valid concerns about your personal development. We have one elephant in the room. What?? Well yes, we do. What could that be? It falls back upon social structures that have always been part of our species. The very ancient concept of survival, “the court of public opinion.” It has seen the rise and fall of many individuals throughout history. The court of public opinion is not rational, it is not logical. The court of public opinion is the emotional state of an identifiable social group. Facts and logic rarely dictate the direction and achievements of the group. Why? Best answered by the following observation. That individual's goals achieved by collaborations. It’s called politics.

How does this relate to our current time and circumstance? AI today is being used in the same way as your credit score. There is a score that is relevant to your employability. Why? AI has developed to a point by statistical analysis from social media to assign a score to “the way you think.”

How can that affect my career? It’s quite simple. Step back to that earlier picture of the school of fish. An evolutionary evolved behaviour pattern. A social score defines your social pattern. The AI behavioural score determines suitability for recruitment. Remember the phrase “think outside the box?” Remember the phrase “loose cannon?” Remember the phrase “team player?” Your daily habits and social media interactions, develop a score.

Today’s major international organizations rely on “team players.” Their financial success and growth rely on “Burger King” lists of conformity. Structures international corporations, adherence and loyalty to the brand and conformity are paramount.

So you’re an individual, you think outside the box, your head is full of ideas. What could go wrong? You're very observant and you plan on being a successful entrepreneur. Perfect! There is only one problem, and what is that? Simple, you're a fish swimming alone, you’re not part of the social school. While that’s partly true because you have a social place in your community. You have knowledge, integrity and social standing. How is that? Well, you have lived in the community and your social status has established over time. It’s called acceptance. Acceptance? Acceptance, as defined by; "the court of public opinion" of your social community. They like the way you think. So far so good. As entrepreneur things appear to be moving forward. As with any great civilization of the past, you rise to a level and then begin the decline. Why? It’s quite simple. Within a social structure, you can only rise to the average level of understanding. As you break through the glass ceiling you are becoming alienated. Why is that? Over time Everyone is comparing yourselves to them. As an entrepreneur, you pride yourself in thinking outside the box. Bettering your economic and social position. Remember this quote from an ancient text? “He thinks too much such men are dangerous.” And so begins the decline of your entrepreneurial adventure. You have passed through a grey area in the margins of your social conformity. The group consensus becoming self-evident is “we don’t like the way you think,” “you’re too smart for us, we don’t want you here.”

Most of today’s human resources departments rely on algorithms and outsourcing. Thus your “employable” score is in the hands of private firms that thrive on personal data - it’s a business.

This is an explanation and conclusion reflecting over the past 50 or 60 years of my own life. You’ve heard the term “once you leave home, you can’t go back.” Due to corporate downsizing and hostile takeovers I did go back, I had no idea what was in store for me. 20 years have slipped by, I can look back and understand the aspects of social structure the causes.

humanity
Like

About the Creator

Howard Titman

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.