Will AI take the joy out of work? | Daniele Quercia | TEDxBerlin

Daniele Quercia, who directs Responsible AI at Nokia Bell Labs, argues that the main risk of AI at work is not mass unemployment but mass demoralization. Based on three studies, he suggests that AI may take over the creative, joyful parts of jobs and leave people with administrative tasks. His latest research finds that tasks workers describe as creative, joyful, and personal are among the most exposed to AI. The talk was given at TEDxBerlin and asks how technology can be designed with wellbeing in mind, not only efficiency.

• Research on AI and work suggests the greater risk may be loss of meaning rather than job loss
• Tasks workers see as creative and joyful are among the most exposed to AI
• Quercia's earlier work includes 'happy maps' that route people through beautiful streets
• The talk asks how technology can account for human wellbeing, not only efficiency

Everyone fears AI will replace us. But after three studies on AI and work, Daniele Quercia fears something quieter: that AI will take over the imaginative, joyful parts of our jobs and leave us with the admin. The risk is not mass unemployment, but mass demoralization. So when AI reshapes your work, will you still recognize yourself in it? Daniele Quercia asks: what if AI isn't coming for the boring parts of your job, but the parts you love? His latest research finds that the tasks workers describe as creative, joyful, and theirs are the ones most exposed to AI. Across his work, he asks a simple question: what would technology look like if it cared not only about efficiency, but also about people's wellbeing? He first explored this idea at TED with "happy maps”, which reroute you through a city's most beautiful streets rather than the fastest. He directs Responsible AI at Nokia Bell Labs in Cambridge and teaches at Politecnico di Torino and King’s College London. Fortune named him a 2014 Data All-Star. He's previously worked at Yahoo Labs, the University of Cambridge, and MIT, and earned his PhD at UC London. researchswinger.org This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx