It's Not About Technology: How AI Is Solving Humanity's Most Pressing Problems

WHY TECHNOLOGY IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT HUMAN PURPOSE

Technology is meaningless unless it serves a useful purpose in our lives.

Think about prehistoric humans who used stone tools these tools had a purpose, they made their lives better. Think about those who harnessed and controlled fire; it would revolutionise our lives forever and create a whole new world.

Technology has always been about solving real-world problems. The more we increase our understanding of our environment, the more we can modify the elements to better our lives. Those who harnessed fire were able to cook food, which may be why our brains developed. Technology was closely connected to our needs and would help us thrive. In this generation, there has been a huge paradigm shift. I wonder what has or will be the fire of this generation?

Think of your cellphone a device with over 100,000 times the processing power of the computer that landed humans on the moon more than 50 years ago. When Neil Armstrong uttered the words, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind", he must have known that landing on the moon was a paradigm shift. With such a powerful device in our pocket, what are we doing with it? Mostly scrolling on social media, with a device that could take you to the moon or save your life.

WHAT COVID-19 REVEALED ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, COLLABORATION AND HUMAN WILL

The COVID-19 pandemic was the perfect example with all the technology that we had created, the future looked bleak. We could not use our technology to find an answer quickly, and this was a stark reminder that we should never forget the importance of our mortality.

The mRNA technology helped us develop vaccines faster, but this was also because there was a will to put all resources together to save many lives. This is the approach we should always have when developing technology. In those labs, the question they had to answer was "How do we save the lives of people from this virus?" the most important kind of question.

The collaboration across industries was a sign that we should always merge technology with the problems we face. We tend to focus on how technology can help us make money or help the economy, and this needs to change.

We need people from different professions engaging and collaborating regularly. Silos create a disconnect those that develop the technology never get to see how it can solve the problems that others face. They cannot connect the dots without meeting.

THE DANGEROUS DISCONNECT BETWEEN TECH DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIETY'S REAL NEEDS

I sometimes look at how technologies are used and think about how there is a disconnect from society's needs. Technology can sometimes become an amusement park, with endless features to amuse us rather than improve us.

As Artificial Intelligence becomes a central part of our lives, I think of how we can make sure we will harness this newfound power to solve our biggest problems. Here is one of the most striking examples of how it is already doing exactly that.

HOW AI MAPPED 200 MILLION PROTEIN STRUCTURES IN ONE YEAR — AND WHY IT MATTERS

Proteins are known as the building blocks of life everything in your body depends on them. They help protect you from diseases and deliver nutrients throughout your body.

A protein is described as an amino acid sequence the genetic sequence that defines it. Each letter in that sequence is an amino acid, and in a human body, this string folds into a complex 3D structure. That structure determines what the protein does in your body.

It takes a PhD student five years to uncover one protein structure. There are 200 million proteins in nature. Using AI, it took just one year to map all 200 million. This is the equivalent of a billion years of PhD research time.

Imagine using this knowledge to find the cure for a disease. Or the next time there is a pandemic, using this breakthrough to develop a vaccine in record time. This is what happens when technology is pointed at a real human problem.

In Closing: The Fire of Our Generation

Technology can help us solve our most pressing problems but only if we direct it intentionally. To those that develop technologies: always think of the human on the other side. And to those trying to solve the world's biggest problems: please collaborate and talk to those who build the tools.

Technology is only as powerful as the intention behind it. The fire of our generation is not AI itself it is what we choose to do with it. Let's make sure we choose wisely.

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