Computers are fast, accurate and stupid. Humans are slow, inaccurate and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination.

Versions of this quote made the rounds perhaps 20 years ago (and no, Albert Einstein didn’t say it). But what can we make of it in this new world of artificial intelligence — AI?

One could argue that it no longer applies; that computers are no longer stupid. And if that’s true, then what of humans? I’m no expert on technology, but as I observe the growth of AI, I can’t help but wonder, apologies to Alexander Graham Bell: What hath technology wrought?

Who’s obsolete now?

AI was all over the agenda at last September’s water/wastewater conference in Chicago. Among many questions, water and wastewater operators are asking: How will it affect jobs?

Technology has replaced jobs before. Word processing eliminated typists. Robots replaced assembly line workers. Digital cameras erased film developers. And so on. In the end, people adapted. New jobs and professions emerged.

But is it different this time? If computers are no longer stupid — if they’re not just faster and more accurate but also smarter — then won’t they soon replace many skills that people have spent a lifetime building and nurturing?

I used to believe my own profession, writing and editing, could never be automated. I was wrong. I could prompt an AI to write a column like this one, and in a minute I would have a draft that, with some adjustments, might be suitable to publish. And indeed, AI is already replacing entry-level and some more advanced writing jobs — because it’s faster and cheaper.

And what we once called knowledge workers in various fields are similarly or even more vulnerable. Computer programmers. Accountants. Graphic designers. Financial analysts. Engineers. Tax preparers. The list goes on.

Whither operations?

And what about jobs in water and wastewater treatment? Those that require physical labor are likely safe: AI won’t soon be rebuilding pumps or fixing clarifier mechanisms.

But it would be naïve to think AI won’t take over some of the knowledge work that operators perform today. During the Chicago conference, one executive for a leading industry association wondered aloud if AI might not help solve the operations workforce shortage.

Professional pride

In the bigger picture, one theory holds that AI will mainly automate lower-level, repetitive work, freeing humans for more rewarding, strategic tasks. But how much room is there, really, for high-level, strategic thinkers?

Then there’s the matter of personal pride in accomplishment. I, for example, draw satisfaction from completing a well-researched, clear, informative magazine story. In the same way, a plant operator might take pride in coming to a facility at dawn and knowing from the sights, sounds and smells whether all is working fine or something is amiss.

There is plain, pure human satisfaction in having developed, through education and years of practice, deep competency in our professions. Where is the satisfaction in simply giving a task to a machine and getting a suitable or superior result?

If computers, on many tasks, outperform the finite brains of all but the most exceptional people, then what good are human brains anyway? Are most of us doomed to be little more than butlers for AI? Where’s the intrinsic reward in that? Maybe that’s the basic question we need to ask ourselves about this brave new world of technology.