The ongoing euphoria about AI’s increasing capabilities and its potential to make several jobs obsolete is not something we can totally ignore. What started as a simple co-pilot/enabler today has enormous potential to be replaced in the coming years.
Though Sam Altman was summarily discussed as a “Podcasting Bro” by TSMC (the world’s largest semiconductor firm that manufactures chips for Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, and others) recently for his $7 trillion dollar plans to build 37 semiconductor factories to build AGI, there is also a probability that TSMC is wrong.
However, in this race toward technological dominance, we must also ask: Can machines ever truly surpass humans in creativity and intelligence? While AI is advancing, we cannot overlook the unique, irreplaceable qualities of human creativity—qualities brought to life through raw emotions, powerful storytelling, and the ability to connect on a deeply personal level—empathy.
A perfect example of this human edge was illustrated in a recent speech by the legendary actress Meryl Streep, where she poignantly addressed the devastating effects of Taliban edicts on Afghan women. The power of her words lay not in boring statistics or raw data but in the emotional connection she made through imagery and evocative storytelling. She made the listener feel the weight of the issue, not just understand it intellectually.
In her speech, Streep said: “Today, a female cat has more freedom than a woman in Kabul. A cat may sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face, and she may chase a squirrel in the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not in public. This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. The way this culture and society has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world.”
The author rates this speech as one of the finest he has come across and is thankful to his daughter for pointing him to this beautiful speech.
The contrast between Altman’s technological ambitions and Streep’s deeply human message shows that while AI is becoming more capable with several advances in generating art, music, and literature, the human ability to communicate through emotion and story remains unmatched, at least for now. Human creativity’s true power lies in producing unique insights and crafting narratives that evoke empathy and challenge societal norms.
Needless to say, the author is not sure if Meryl and/or her scriptwriters used AI for ideas (It’s 2024). If that is the case, it is entirely a different story.
Original article published by Senthil Ravindran on LinkedIn.