What’s Old Is New Again! How the AI Era of Today was Foreshadowed in 1968 on Television.

Underneath the person you know as Steve Dern – the man so cool, suave and handsome that he is potentially the second most interesting man in the world behind the Dos Equis guy - lies a deep dark secret that is so shocking, so unimaginable that even those closest to him will shutter in disbelief!  This article will channel my well-meaning inner demon to talk about today’s technology in the world we live today.  Here it goes.

I . . .

am . . .

a “Trekkie”!!!

There, I said it!  It’s out for public consumption and ridicule, and it can never return to the sanctuary of my inner nerd soul!  As I grew up in the 1970’s, I discovered “Star Trek”, a low budget production, modestly viewed television show that found success and a loyal audience in syndication telling tales of the starship Enterprise and its crew, on a 5-year mission to boldly go where no man had gone before!  I was hooked on “Star Trek”, watching it every afternoon at 5:00 p.m.  Reruns still air on TV, and every now and then if there is a decent episode on, I will watch it yet again while I play with Ziggy the beagle in our basement home theater. Let’s enter that time warp and return to present day to discuss the real-world observations of this article.

Last week, one of my favorite episodes aired.  “The Ultimate Computer” told the story of the new M5 computer system that had been developed by Dr. Richard Daystrom and is deployed on the Enterprise as a test of its revolutionary capabilities to operate a starship with minimal crew of 20 personnel, compared to a traditional crew of 430.  M5 could perform the same tasks as traditional crew members could, only more efficiently, allowing men and women to pursue loftier endeavors.  At first, M5 performs above expectations, but then little things start to go unexpectedly.  Power systems on the ship shut down, then there are differences in personnel recommendations for a landing party. It culminates in the end as a series of war games against four other starships becomes tragedy in space as M5 fails to realize the war games are merely a simulation exercise, and attacks the other unassuming vessels with full phasers, destroying them and killing hundreds (this was riveting television to 6-year-old me way back when!).  As you might guess, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew find a way to stop the destruction and save the Enterprise, having learned a valuable lesson.  Spock said it best: “Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them.”

Now I am not going to reveal all the elements of the classic episode, but I will share this perspective.  When I originally watched Star Trek as a child, it was purely for entertainment purposes.  As I matured, I began to re-evaluate the stories told through the social and political contexts of that era. Star Trek was originally produced in the late 1960’s - the era of war and peace; space races to the moon; social prejudices; sex, drugs and rock’n’roll!  In the 70’s and 80’s, I recall a lot of social concern regarding automation and how robots might replace workers in manufacturing and other roles.  That was very real, and it was addressed specifically in “The Ultimate Computer!”

Now we get to the “Aha!” moment of this article.

As I watched “The Ultimate Computer” last week, it finally dawned on me that Star Trek was not only speaking to the robotics revolution of the 70’s and 80’s, but also to the evolution of artificial intelligence!  Yes, Gene Roddenberry and his scriptwriters were providing a foreshadowing of the topic that dominates staffing and most other industry conferences today – AI!

As the M5 was installed and integrated with the Enterprise computer and engineering systems, Spock inquired as to why the system was called M5, and what had happened to series M1 through M4.  Daystrom responded that “M1-M4 were not entirely successful” and reveals that M5 was revolutionary because it had the ability to learn and grow, based on human ingrams that were programmed into its coding.  The ingrams we later discover were Daystrom’s own – his values, principles, motivations, and his own flaws. This was AI before the acronym became mainstream!

As we interact with such technologies, AI learns from us and continues to develop a voice that resembles our own more and more.  AI can assist in managing operational elements of our daily work lives in the staffing and talent solutions industry – candidate vetting, onboarding, communications and marketing execution, proposal writing, and reporting.  It is a bigger part of our industry as each day goes by, and I embrace that.  If we learn anything from Star Trek, it is that it will be critical to establish governance standards around artificial intelligence. AI is learning, but its education is based on data and interactions it has in real life application with humans and other systems. And I think we can all agree that humanity and technology are not without flaws and inconsistencies. We are well-advised to ensure that data is clean and accurate, and well defined in scope and application.  Oversight and governance that establishes standards around AI, albeit never perfect, are required to establish a benchmark for ethical standards of data integrity and security, as well as its application.  Our businesses and leaders will continue to evolve their reliance on such technologies as we impose influence on others, make decisions and policies, and boldly go into our future, and guide others into theirs.  However, we need to be smart about how AI becomes part of our business, and our daily lives.  After all, we don’t want AI to suddenly become our “Doomsday Machine.” (IYKYK!)

Indeed, it seems that what was old is new again!  Thanks for indulging this nerd.  If you see me at a meeting or conference, I’m happy to discuss all things Trek, though the conversation will probably be much cooler if we talk about jazz, wine or golf!  You know - the really cool things!  (Those are cool, right?)

Live long and prosper!

Steve Dern is the Founder & Principal Consultant of Trumpeter Consulting, L.L.C.  Leveraging expertise gained over his two decades in talent solutions with nearly 30 client programs, Steve provides consulting expertise to enterprise clients as they navigate their way through the complex world of contingent workforce management, and to suppliers who seek to expand and optimize their operations and revenue streams as they engage end customers via internal program teams or MSP partners.  For more information, email us at steve.dern@trumpeterconsulting.com