There is lots of talk about technology with cloud-native and artificial intelligence just some of the buzzwords of today’s dinner parties and conferences.
There is an innate fear that computers will take jobs from people and I’ve heard that some businesses are forecasting a blanket 20% reduction in headcount because of new technologies delivering efficiencies.
The fear is nothing new. During the march of digital transformation we saw the same fear of livelihoods being destroyed as technology took over.
Whilst at the time we saw some job titles becoming redundant we also saw more new jobs emerging.
Technology underpins processes, which enable people to achieve the outcome they are looking for and too often we focus on the technology, rather than the what the person wants to achieve, or what business problem we are looking for technology to help solve.
You can see your LinkedIn feed inundated with references to the question “how do we get the most value from AI?” or “which new piece of tech is best?”.
But the real question should be “what business problems do we have and how can we utilise technology to solve them?”
As we get more comfortable and confident with the latest technologies we can identify more use cases to leverage the benefits they bring.
Whether that is accelerating how quickly we can get people into homes of their own or ensure that if they have difficulties they can stay there, or even keep them informed on what they owe and how to minimise the costs involved.
We need to remember we still need people who are experts in implementing these technologies, people who are able to provide delivery oversight, people to operate them and people to fix things when they go wrong.
No one actually wants a mortgage. They want a home of their own to protect themselves and their family. If they have challenges paying their mortgage, they need support and help keeping their home.
In our day-to-day life, we often forget about the human need and the actual outcome trying to be achieved
This is a human need that is at the foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy – the desire for a predictable and secure life, including protection from danger, financial stability and health.
Buy-to let or development finance enables someone to get the resources they need to earn a living for their family. Equity release has the purpose of helping people get more enjoyment from their retirement after spending most of their life working to support themselves and their family.
In our day-to-day life, we often forget about the human need and the actual outcome trying to be achieved.
Technology can have a really positive impact on people’s lives, enabling them to be happy, health and to achieve the outcomes they seek more easily, whether that is the need for a home, how they live, or giving them a livelihood.
But it can also threaten those needs and we need to look out for one another to prevent that from happening.
Einstein is quoted as saying “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity”.
I truly hope this is not the case and we continue to remember what we all need!
