Can super intelligence and emotional intelligence co-exist?

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As technology gets smarter, humanity faces major questions about the future. Will computers become superhuman computers become superhuman and so intelligent that they can tackle any task and do it better than a human counterpart? Not in the next few decades, but rapid advancement in Artificial Intelligence (AI) fields means that such a scenario could happen. Humans could in fact create their own obsolescence, and approximately half of all current jobs could be automated. That's without the availability of a super intelligence to oversee disparate AI-driven technologies.

Instead, deep learning has created highly specialised artificial intelligence that can learn and do a singular job better than human counterparts. Consider the use of AI in the banking industry, where some banks use AI to generate loans. While the first year involved a high default rate, machine learning now means that the same AI program is issuing loans at a default rate that is substantially better than human loan officers.

If super intelligence is simply the ability to do a job better than a human can, it is already here and humans are part of the machine. What artificial intelligence lacks is emotional intelligence and the ability to relate more naturally to humans.

Great customer service starts by creating empathy between an agent and a customer. Without empathy, problem-solving is difficult, if not impossible. Today's AI does not feel emotion, making any attempt at empathy fall more than a little flat. AI learns by repetition and pattern recognition, but without the underlying understanding of what drives those patterns, can true empathy exist?

If machines do develop an emotional repertoire that resembles humanity, it may change the shape of the modern world. What computers do well, they do much better than humans. Modern facial recognition software can pick someone out of a crowd of thousands in a few seconds, and complex calculations take a fraction of that time. But, that doesn't mean humanity has nothing of value to offer in a world populated by humanistic super intelligences. No matter how intelligent the machine, it still needs guidance on what to do. The best facial recognition software is pointless without a user to say, "Find this person." Humans provide the motivation for machines to work. That means emotional intelligence could become the higher order capability essential for super intelligence to become more meaningful. Coexistence of these two distinctly different intelligences will define humanity in the short term where Super Intelligence (SI) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) will become the twin engines of our progress.

Career technologist Kai-Fu Lee offers an example of how modern AI can help to transform society for the better. His theory involves using machines for the data-driven portions of the workplace and people for the needed soft skills. One example might be using an AI to interpret medical diagnosis, but using a person to deliver results. The medical technology can say with near-certainty that a patient is unlikely to live, but a human doctor can deliver the news in the least painful way.

Evolving the definition of work and how humans interact with machines will determine the future of society when super intelligences handle many of the mundane tasks that clutter up the workday.

Of course, increased freedom to develop relationships and spend more time on human-oriented tasks could present unique and emotionally satisfying opportunities. Job satisfaction has been on the decline for years in many industries, and it may be that achieving synergy between man and machine will reveal the true value of emotional intelligence. In a world order led by super intelligence, emotional intelligence will be the only arrow in the human quiver to rein in super intelligence, at least until super intelligence develops enough EI to relate to all mammals.

The author is CEO and Co-Founder of Senseforth, Inc.