AI in the Workplace: Automation, Job Replacement, and What Makes Us Human

Can AI do our jobs better than we can? Let’s test it!

You might have noticed that this episode got off to a strange start… who were those people talking anyway? That, my friends, was Google NotebookLM’s best shot at recording this very podcast. In it, two AI-generated guests conduct an ironic “deep dive” into the topic we are discussing in this episode: whether AI will come to replace certain jobs and how it will change existing jobs in our healthcare system and beyond.

For this episode, we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Marylyn Ritchie, a Professor of Genetics and the Director of the Institute for Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. An expert in translational bioinformatics, her research focuses on using clinical data to discover the genetic architecture underlying common diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. In April, she was appointed Vice Dean of Artificial Intelligence and Computing where she works to develop and implement an AI strategy for the Penn Medicine health system.

We also finally got a songwriter back on our guest panel. Collin Frisch is an indie-pop singer-songwriter who describes himself as “like Ed Sheeran, but less talented and better looking.” After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2023, he took on the role of Creative Director at the Bridge Church near Trenton, New Jersey. We were so grateful that Collin could represent the right side of the brain in this conversation.

Lastly, we welcomed our co-host Harris Bland back to the show!

We turn a bit philosophical in this episode; while we discuss AI’s potential to rewire and create jobs, we also talk about the undiscovered fields of medicine where humans must still blaze the path forward. Inevitably, our conversation turned into a reflection about which characteristics AI can’t yet emulate, the very things that make us human and—for now—irreplaceable.

Mentioned in the episode:

-What eMERGE actually means: 

-”Will A.I. Kill Meaningless Jobs?” by Emma Goldberg, New York Times, August 2024

-Waymo Stand-off video

-”Swiss cheese model” coined by Dr. James Reason in “Human Error: Models and Management,” British Medical Journal, 2000.

Songs mentioned in this episode:

“Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield (2004)

“She Bangs” by William Hung (2008) (originally performed by Ricky Martin)

“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift (2014)

“Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift (2022)

“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” by Taylor Swift (2024)

“All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” by Taylor Swift (2021)

“Ruin Your Heart” by Collin Frisch (2021)

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