9 Rules to Survive Automation
Artificial intelligence has become our new reality with iRobot Roomba Vacuums, ChatGPT, Amazon Alexa, and several other AI technologies taking part in our homes and lives. AI technology has shaped our lives, our jobs, and our purchase decisions. Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation by Kevin Roose helps us answer the question: How can we be happy, successful humans in a world built by and for machines?
Roose provides us with 9 rules for us to follow to help us value our humanity and protect our futures in the age and rise of automation. He tells us that we should ditch the conventional way of thinking: that we need to be as quick, efficient, and data-driven as computers to be successful. Instead, Roose explains that we should value what makes us human: our creativity, imagination, and inspiration. Being human is what sets us apart from even the most advanced AI.
9 Rules to Survive Automation
Rule 1: Be Surprising, Social, and Scarce
To survive automation, we have to do things that machines can’t do. We have to be surprising, social, and scarce. AI can do things that are certain, consistent, and algorithmic. Humans, on the other hand, can handle surprises and thrive in chaos and uncertainty. This is why Amazon Alexa responds well to simple questions and gets stuck when asked a more complex question.
Being social involves creating experiences that tap into social desire. We’re social beings, and we like to feel connected to others and have meaningful interactions with those around us. For example, nurses, front desk employees, therapists, hair stylists, etc. have jobs that are hard to automate because they involve so much social and emotional expertise. We can’t successfully have those interactions and relationships with AI.
While AI does well with large data sets and systems, humans are much better with work that involves rare skills, talents, and abilities. World-class athletes and Grammy-winning singers are scarce, making them safe from automation. Roose tells us that if people pay to watch you do your job, you’re pretty safe. As humans, we need role models and to feel inspired by human greatness.
Let’s dig deeper into what makes us human — being surprising, social, and scarce — instead of trying to be data-driven workhorses. Automation can’t touch our humanity.
Rule 2: Resist Machine Drift
Our lives seem to become more and more predictable with everyone watching the same shows on Netflix, reading the same books, and making the same recipes. Machines and algorithms are partially to blame as they’ve completely changed the way we think and live. We’re shown things that align with what the algorithm wants us to see. We should, instead, narrow our horizons and resist the drift. We should think for ourselves and make our own decisions instead of following automated recommendations on apps like Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify.
Netflix’s automated recommendations based off previously watched shows.
Rule 3: Demote your Devices
Our devices have come to rule our lives. When we hear our phone buzz with text, email, or social media updates, we reach for it without even thinking, regardless of where we are or what time it is. Our phones, computers, and tablets are some of the most advanced pieces of AI technology, and they’ve fundamentally changed the way we live.
What if we put our devices down for a whole morning and committed to spending 5 uninterrupted hours with our families or alone in our thoughts? What if we started to focus more on meaningful human connection rather than being engulfed in the TikTok scroll? Roose tells us about his experience with Catherine Price, writer of How to Break Up with Your Phone. He began on the thirty-day journey to form a healthier relationship with his devices. He was able to reduce screen time and pick up his phone much less than he had before. Roose found that he appreciated technology more, was much more productive, and couldn’t stop talking about his improved focus.
It could be influential for all of us to take part in demoting our devices for our sanity and to survive through the age of automation.
Rule 4: Leave Handprints
We tend to place more value on things that people have worked hard on. It’s why we love handmade gifts and are willing to pay more for hand-crafted art pieces than we are for robot-made flat-screen TVs. We like things that take effort, and that’s why leaving our handprint in a way that humanizes us is so important. If we can set ourselves apart from the machines with our handprint, we can survive automation.
Rule 5: Don’t Be an Endpoint
Endpoints are the points of connection between 2 machines or programs. These are jobs that treat humans as machine extensions and are structured and robotic; they’re jobs that could be replaced by AI. We need to recognize when technology is making us less human and more robot-like. If we can’t set ourselves and jobs apart from AI, there won’t be anything left for humans to offer.
Let’s think back to Rule 1: be scarce, surprising, and social. Now think of your current job. Are you doing something that falls into any of these categories? Can you bring something special to the table that AI can’t? If your answer is no, you need to start resisting and back to Rule 4: leave your handprint.
Rule 6: Treat AI Like a Chimp Army
We can’t let AI take over important tasks when machines may not be ready to take them on. Risk isn’t always low when automated algorithms are involved. Roose tells us about how Mike Fowler’s t-shirt algorithm went way wrong, resulting in shutting down his company entirely. Machines aren’t ready to take over all tasks. Roose urges us to take extreme caution when assigning tasks to AI.
Rule 7: Build Big Nets and Small Webs
No matter how much we prepare for the age of automation, it’s probably going to knock us down anyway. If we build big nets as a society, we can help those who are knocked down by technological changes. Individually, our small webs help us create a plan so that we have what we need when automation strikes. How do we do this? During the COVID-19 pandemic, people came together and created a big net to keep people from failing. The government helped those who lost their jobs financially, communities banded together to keep small businesses alive, and healthcare workers traveled to work where they were needed most. If we can create the same kind of met during the age of automation, we can get through it together. On a smaller scale, creating small webs can be as simple as learning how to use a new technology for our benefit. Let’s embrace technology, and let it bring us together by being there for each other when we need it most.
Rule 8: Learn Machine-Age Humanities
What should we be learning to maximize our advantages over machines? If we don’t need to learn how to build algorithms or sort data, what should we learn? Roose gives us 6 valuable skills we should learn to get ahead of AI.
Attention Guarding
Being able to focus and pay attention helps us navigate the fast-changing future. We can train our brains to better guard our attention through meditation, breathing exercises, walks, and prayer.
Room Reading
Being able to read a room, code-switch, and modulate behavior based on the environment is a valuable tool that requires a high level of social perception.
Resting
Resting is productive. Being well-rested is going to become even more critical through the age of automation to help us avoid burnout and exhaustion.
Digital Discernment
Being able to decipher true from false is a valuable skill. We need to be able to filter information and see through the hazy digital landscape.
Analog Ethics
We need to get back to the basics of ethics. We need to share, play fair, clean up after ourselves, and be good. We need to find our ethical roots and dig deep.
Consequentialism
Understanding the effects and consequences of AI will ultimately help us avoid them. Good outcomes matter more than good intentions.
Rule 9: Arm the Rebels
We need to be prepared for the challenges that will come with AI. We can do 1 of 2 things, throw our hands up in defeat or step into the conversation and fight for a better future. Roose says that it’s our moral duty to fight for people. Let’s band together, offer our vision of how automation should be, and write a new chapter in history.
Is Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation for You?
It’s scary to think about the rise of automation and AI in our lives. So much of what we do daily is affected by some sort of artificial intelligence. How do we stop this? How do we fight back? How do we protect our humanity? If you want answers to these questions, this book is for you. I encourage you to read it, follow Roose’s 9 rules, and come back to the table with a new perspective.
Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation is another eye-opening book that I would recommend to everyone. Whether we realize it or not, AI is here, and it isn’t going anywhere. We need to be prepared, and we need to have a plan. In the appendix, Roose outlines how we can make a Futureproof Plan with small, bite-sized goals that we can easily achieve as we become prepared for the age of automation. Here are some short-term goals you can implement in your own Futureproof Plan:
Rule 1 - Be Surprising, Social, and Scarce: Do 3 things that are surprising, social, and scarce at home, at work, and in the community. This could be as simple as inviting your work friends to dinner, learning something that only a few people know, and bringing home a surprise for your family.
Rule 2 - Resist Machine Drift: Turn off recommendations on your apps.
Rule 3 - Demote Your Devices: Turn off email notifications after 5 p.m. and on weekends.
Rule 4 - Leave Handprints: Let people know how appreciative you are of them at work, home, or in the community. Kind words are always good for the soul.
Rule 5 - Don’t Be an Endpoint: Learn one new thing every day that makes you irreplaceable.
Rule 6 - Treat AI Like a Chimp Army: Investigate what machines can do well in your job area, and what they aren’t ready for.
Rule 7 - Build Big Nets and Small Webs: Organize a community event.
Rule 8 - Learn Machine-Age Humanities: If there’s anything I took from this rule, it’s that we absolutely need rest, so take a nap.
Rule 9 - Arm the Rebels: Make your own Futureproof Plan to get prepared.
These rules and this plan are important, and I encourage you to make your own plan that addresses your entire life. This book has laid the foundation for me as I begin to futureproof my life and reclaim control of my mind and human agency.
While futureproofing goes beyond our jobs and careers, I think mentioning how this applies to social media scholars is important. If we can understand how we can set ourselves apart from AI and use automation to our advantage, we can lean into a new age of social media.
