Digitization should not replace humans
Digitization and artificial intelligence do not make humans superfluous. The speakers at the 5th Digital Economic Forum (DEF) recently in Zurich agreed that despite new technologies and automation, there is still great potential for human labor in the future.
The forum discussion focused on the socio-political consequences of digitalisation. In addition, on 9 May 2019, the 230 visitors to Palais X-Tra were able to experience exciting digital experiences with robots, sensory gloves, bots, exomuscles and a digital flight simulator.
In order to make the best possible use of the technological possibilities of digitalization, we still need the working and thinking power as well as the creativity of people. The speakers at the Digital Economic Forum agreed on this. "I believe that people are still needed," said Abacus mastermind Claudio Hintermann. Everything has changed in a single generation. However, unlike machines, humans are not constantly evolving and have to learn the same things over and over again.
According to Marianne Wildi, CEO Hypothekenbank Lenzburg, "many things are changing and yet many things remain stable. A cool mix of man and machine is a cool future," the banker is convinced.
The sensor technology expert, ETH professor Dr. Robert Riener, was also optimistic that, despite all the technical developments, there will still be a lot of potential for human work in the future. He impressively demonstrated how robots or exoskeletons complement conventional therapy in movement rehabilitation, helping to intensify movement and thus the healing process.
For Empa Director and ETH Professor Gian-Luca Bona, human creativity is required in the development of new materials. He saw great potential in machine-to-machine learning in the interaction of various specially trained skills. According to Bona, technology and material development as well as design are closely related and must form a closed loop.
Data leaks, insecure devices and invasive trackers
Another human aspect of digitalisation was highlighted by the German hospital CEO Dr Nicolas Krämer, whose clinic was the victim of a massive hacker attack in 2016, and Jan Schilliger, one of the co-founders of the ETH start-up SnowHaze.
The human factor plays a decisive role in IT security, especially when it comes to not opening spam mails with attachments, appreciated Krämer, who saw the entire healthcare sector facing a real paradigm shift. Schilliger also showed how people sometimes negligently undermine data security in their everyday actions and thus recklessly create the possibility of a cyber attack.
"Data leaks, insecure devices and invasive trackers are everywhere," explained Schilliger, who could have manipulated thousands of connections in a hotspot experiment with visitors during DEF.
For Valerio Roncone, Head Future Business SIX, the digital changes are fundamental, far-reaching and possibly disruptive. This brings with it increased requirements for security and stability and demands greater attention, Roncone explained.
Tino Hellmund, Head Client Service Management SIX, made it clear that in 2027 the new "Alpha" generation would enter the work process, which would have hardly any connection to analogue processes. He identified sophisticated chatbots as a suitable means of communicating with these people.
Kevin Sartori, co-founder of Auterion AG, a proven expert in the drone business, was a key advocate of open source software as a global standard, also for the control of drones, for example. And finally, the internationally awarded German memory trainer Markus Hofmann explained in his short training session how to achieve an edge through knowledge even in a digitalized world by being able to retrieve information faster than others.
For Switzerland's youngest member of the Council of States, Damian Müller (FDP/LU), it is clear that a great deal of effort is needed on the part of the authorities and politicians to keep pace with developments and to recognise and understand the potential of new working environments.
Unique world of experience
As a novelty at DEF19, a unique world of experience conveyed tangible examples and enabled hands-on experience with new technologies. Developments and products from digitization were ready to be discovered: robots, sensory gloves, communicating with bots, experiencing the power of an exomuscle, a moving simulator with which humans could experience flying, and much more.
