As technology advances, the idea that we can use technology to replace human interaction is misguided. This is not related to how advanced technology becomes, and I think it will be true, even in a theoretical world where AIs were smarter than humans.

As technology becomes more advanced, the scale of it’s impact will be larger, and we need to make sure it is used for constructive purposes instead of destruction. This requires humans to work together and develop social norms around how technology is used. For example, nuclear fission was used in the 1940s to develop nuclear weapons, which have become powerful enough to turn our planet into a lifeless wasteland. However, there is also a collective understating that nuclear weapons should not be used in war, and nuclear fission is now used in power plants to generate electricity. While nuclear power plants are complicated and generate radioactive waste, they are also far more energy efficient and generate less air pollution than coal plants.

When it comes to communication, technologies that facilitate communication when it otherwise isn’t possible have made the most positive impact. Being able to make a phone call or send an email to someone who isn’t physically in the same room as you has been very beneficial for society.

Sometimes, promoting human centered values is going to require avoiding use of a technology, even if the technology makes work more efficient. For example, AI art generators can generate art far more efficiently than a human artist. However, AI art generators lack empathy and the ability to connect with an audience, so using them moves us away from human centered values that are becoming increasingly important. AI art generators are also trained on the work of artists without permission, financial compensation,or credit, which is anti-human. In other words, we should be supporting human artists.

Also, technology is developed and maintained by humans that have to communicate and work together. Nobody is able to develop new technology entirely on their own with no help. First of all, you need to talk to potential users to see if what you are making will solve a problem they care about. Once the technology is developed and proven to be useful, you then need to convince people to use the technology. Then, you will need user feedback about bugs, new features, and places where the user experience needs to be updated. Successful technologies such as electronic computers are rarely created in isolation, released to users, and then never modified again.