糖心传媒

Artificial intelligence is increasingly framed in stark extremes: either as a revolutionary tool poised to transform society for the better or as a looming threat ready to replace human workers. Headlines about 糖心传媒渞obot nurses,糖心传媒� rogue chatbots, and indefatigable virtual assistants can make the technology feel both exciting and deeply unsettling.

But according to 糖心传媒 experts from business, medicine, and ethics, the reality is more nuanced. 糖心传媒�05S (MBA), , and say the more important question may not be whether AI will replace humans糖心传媒攂ut which parts of human work should never have consumed so much human attention in the first place.

Keating, a clinical associate professor of information systems and AI at URochester糖心传媒檚 , sees AI less as a wholesale replacement for workers than as an agent that will fundamentally reshape how people spend their time and energy at work.

The technology excels at repetitive cognitive tasks, but human judgment, leadership, and creativity remain essential.

糖心传媒淵ou have to use it as a creative palette to which you bring your best ideas and hone your strongest questions,糖心传媒� Keating says. 糖心传媒淭he directive is to have AI make your ideas better.糖心传媒�

More than a machine

糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 so much hype about AI in the world,糖心传媒� says Fear, senior director of digital health and AI at . 糖心传媒淎I can feel like something happening to people糖心传媒攕omething they糖心传媒檙e not in control of, that will change their lives and jobs without them knowing what to do about it.糖心传媒�

At the same time, the experts see a future in which AI is most useful not when it imitates humanity, but when it creates more room for distinctly human capacities: empathy, creativity, judgment, and connection. And even some of the messier human elements糖心传媒攍ike mistakes, emotions, intuition, and uncertainty糖心传媒攔emain features instead of bugs.

糖心传媒淎I can feel like something happening to people糖心传媒攕omething they糖心传媒檙e not in control of, that will change their lives and jobs without them knowing what to do about it.糖心传媒�

According to Herington, an assistant professor of health humanities and bioethics in the , public conversations about AI often oversimplify the essence of human intelligence.

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 just a mistake to think AI will be able to replace all the different cognitive tasks humans are good at,糖心传媒� says Herington, who has a joint appointment as an assistant professor in the .

While AI can increasingly perform creative tasks once considered uniquely human, Herington says some dimensions of human thinking remain difficult to replicate.

糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 a certain degree of taste and style糖心传媒攄eveloping the right questions, selecting the most salient sources, even finding the perfect metaphor糖心传媒攖hat still matters,糖心传媒� he says.

In Keating糖心传媒檚 courses, he explores the current opportunities to drive AI initiatives that matter in the workplace. 糖心传媒淎I can make decisions, stitch correlations together, and find novel connections,糖心传媒� Keating says. 糖心传媒淚t is not a tool; it糖心传媒檚 an agent. A tool only does what a human designs it to do. AI is not that: It can do things we did not intend.糖心传媒�

He encourages students to treat AI less as a final authority than as a collaborative brainstorming partner, one that is capable of surfacing unexpected connections and alternative approaches. Keating sees AI becoming deeply integrated into everyday workplace functions糖心传媒攆rom marketing and financial operations to customer service, project management, and even higher education admissions. Used thoughtfully, he says, the technology can help organizations generate ideas, identify patterns, analyze large swaths of data, and reduce repetitive work. This integration grants the human workforce more time for creativity, judgment, and human connection.

Less 糖心传媒榩ajama time,糖心传媒� more patient ties

Despite its promise, AI cannot contend with humans in two distinct areas: emotional labor and human discernment.

糖心传媒淲hen I think about places of shortages糖心传媒攃hildcare, elder caregivers, nurses, physicians, teachers糖心传媒攈uman empathy is not yet an ample commodity,糖心传媒� Herington says. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 actually really scarce.糖心传媒�

The irony, he argues, is that many modern workplaces force people to spend enormous amounts of time on administrative and cognitive tasks that undermine opportunities for meaningful human interaction.

糖心传媒淲hen I think about places of shortages糖心传媒攃hildcare, elder caregivers, nurses, physicians, teachers糖心传媒攈uman empathy is not yet an ample commodity.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淟ots of us are doing work that forces us to act in ways where we don糖心传媒檛 have time to engage in human empathy because we have to engage in all these cognitive tasks,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淭he positive vision for AI is that those kinds of tasks become less important aspects of our job, and we spend more time connecting with other human beings.糖心传媒�

Fear sees AI applications such as Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX), which records appointments with patient consent, as tools that reduce rote administrative burdens, create more space for human interaction, and mitigate the risk of burnout from too much 糖心传媒減ajama time,糖心传媒� a term describing unpaid administrative work that physicians and other healthcare professionals tackle after work hours.

Embrace the mess

At the same time, all three experts caution against treating AI as inherently neutral or infallible.

糖心传媒淎s a healthcare institution, we have a serious responsibility to be good stewards of AI, data, and information our patients provide us,糖心传媒� Fear says.

One major concern involves bias and system performance over time. AI tools trained under one set of conditions may behave differently as populations, workflows, or environments change.

糖心传媒淭he biggest risk is how tools perform when conditions change over time,糖心传媒� Fear says. 糖心传媒淲e need to be watching.糖心传媒�

Herington sees another danger in the social dynamics of AI systems themselves. Because many AI platforms are designed to maximize engagement, he worries they may encourage affirmation and dependency rather than honesty or accountability.

糖心传媒淭hese systems are built to maximize engagement,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淭hey are almost always going to be sycophantic because that糖心传媒檚 what draws people in.糖心传媒�

For him, meaningful human relationships involve friction, independence, and moral challenge. 糖心传媒淚f you糖心传媒檙e in a relationship with someone who doesn糖心传媒檛 have their own interests or ambitions, it糖心传媒檚 ultimately very unsatisfying,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淲hat you want is to be with another who has messy ambitions and interests.糖心传媒�

That applies to education, research, and medicine as well.

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 never going to speak truth to power,糖心传媒� Herington says of AI systems. 糖心传媒淎nd that糖心传媒檚 what you want from good teachers, supervisors, and doctors.

Engagement over anxiety

Rather than downplaying or avoiding AI altogether, Fear believes the best response is informed engagement.

糖心传媒淭he most valuable thing people can be doing with AI is getting in and playing,糖心传媒� she says.
Part of her work involves helping clinicians, staff, and patients better understand both the opportunities and limitations of the technology.

糖心传媒淚f you understand something, you can shape it,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淭he more you know, the more in control you are; the better you can sort out the hype from reality.糖心传媒�

Fear also sees AI lowering barriers that have historically prevented many good ideas from gaining traction. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檝e been working in innovation for 10 years now, and we have such a smart, creative, passionate community of people here,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淭he stumbling blocks often have less to do with the quality of the idea and more to do with resources or technical skill.糖心传媒�

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and Claude could democratize innovation by allowing more people to prototype ideas, build software tools, or streamline workflows without needing coding expertise.

糖心传媒淭he sustainable future of AI at URochester Medicine depends on developing a culture where everyone is educated on AI,糖心传媒� Fear says.

糖心传媒楯unk code糖心传媒� or genius?

While experts increasingly debate whether AI behaves more like a tool or an autonomous agent, all three researchers agree that human judgment remains central. The future of artificial intelligence is not about replacing humans. It is about redefining what human work should look like in a world increasingly shaped by machines.

If AI can absorb or mitigate repetitive documentation, technical bottlenecks, and administrative overload, they argue, it may allow people to focus more fully on the parts of work machines still struggle to replicate.

糖心传媒淲e have just a fraction of the information that AI does, and yet we are able to make these massive leaps as a species with just a little bit of information and all that strange human 糖心传媒榡unk code,糖心传媒櫶切拇�媒� Keating says, referencing a phrase used by writer Eve Poole.

He points to 糖心传媒渢he human mess糖心传媒� of qualities such as uncertainty, free will, storytelling, and mistakes as things purposely excluded from AI systems but central to human achievement. These traits, he says, are what make breakthroughs possible: 糖心传媒淲e write the works of Shakespeare. We create the art of Picasso. We cure polio. In Rochester, we made extraordinary social change through the work of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Every once in a while, we learn to take flight.糖心传媒�

He adds, 糖心传媒淎ll of these seeming 糖心传媒榙eficiencies糖心传媒� are actually what allow us, as humans, to make those incredible leaps.糖心传媒�