Over the years, companies have struggled to strike a balance between employee satisfaction, societal contributions, and maintaining profitability. In his book 'Bullshit Jobs', anthropologist David Graeber addresses the issue of meaningless jobs while advocating for meaningful and publicly beneficial roles.
His concept in fact align with most public concern about Artificial Intelligence (AI), which AI "take away" the job from the employees.
However, from my prespective, i will venture into decoding how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help foster Public Interest Capitalism by George Hara while creating better companies. We will also discuss enabling human creativity and profit sharing Intellectual Property (IP) rights on employees' creations for a healthier society.
The Riddle of 'Bullshit Jobs':
In the modern workplace, Graeber identifies 'bullshit jobs' as roles with little to no societal value—jobs that do not make a tangible difference to the world. This situation calls for a shift in work dynamics, towards placing public interest at the center of capitalism. In sync, Hara's ideology of 'Public Interest Capitalism' affirms that businesses should focus on generating societal value holistically.
The Promise of Artificial Intelligence:
AI has the power to transform concepts like Hara's 'Public Interest Capitalism' into reality. By taking over menial and repetitive jobs, AI allows for a vital reallocation of human resources, where the human workforce can emphasize tasks that require creativity, empathy, task prioritization, leadership, and strategic planning—components of a job that AI can't replace entirely.
AI and Creative Empowerment:
Free from routine, employees can bloom into creators, divergent thinkers, and innovators—introducing new solutions, designs, or services that positively impact society. Consequently, these tangible contributions better align with the principles of 'Public Interest Capitalism.' For those employees prefer to stay in the old methodology, the company now able to keep them as the overall productivity of the company has been improved as a whole. Further, employees immersed in creativity and innovation are generally inclined to show profound engagement levels, increasing productivity, and unlocking new opportunities for growth.
The Revolution in IP Rights:
Empowering employees by granting IP rights over their creations forms an integral part of the eco-system. Employee eager to offer solution and the IP rights is rewarded by the company system. Such an empowering approach combined with AI's efficiency can invite a workforce transformation. Individuals will more willingly devote their intellectual faculties to foster innovations that bring genuine value to society (and the company).
People-centred AI:
AI can augment, not replace, human capabilities, by assisting in comprehensive data analysis and automation of mechanical tasks. Free from their otherwise occupied time slots by 'bullshit jobs,' employees can create, innovate, and contribute to the company's intellectual milieu. Consequently, a shift from profit-centered capitalism to public interest capitalism becomes a feasible change.
Conclusion:
Initially, the advent of AI may seem unsettling. Still, with thoughtful and conscientious integration, it can propel us into an age of 'Public Interest Capitalism.' Companies becoming more effective and meaningful, employees fostering creativity and innovation, employees gaining rights over their creations, society thriving from these solutions—this could be our world with AI at the forefront. Artificial Intelligence, therefore, can be the bridge connecting corporate profitability, societal interest, and individual creativity, truly embodying the vision of George Hara's 'Public Interest Capitalism.' Our future, thus, lies not merely in working hard but in working smart for the collective societal good.