Have you wondered why we still have two pilots in the cockpit?

Autopilot has been standard since the 1980s. The tech can land a plane in zero visibility. Yet, the humans remain.

They remain because while the machine handles the routine, we demand human judgment for the unexpected and human accountability for the risks.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝗮𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.

According to insights in the MIT Sloan Management Review by Will Drover, Ph.D. and Laura Huang, we are looking at the wrong metric. 𝗪𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘅?), 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘁?).

𝟭/ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗝𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿" 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀

AI doesn't improve in a straight line. As Ethan Mollick and others have argued, it creates a "jagged frontier" where it automates some tasks instantly while hitting a brick wall on others. The authors identify three stages: Assist, Reshape, and Replace.

𝟮/ 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁

The authors argue that "Friction Factors" are what actually determine the timeline.

𝗘𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: If a chatbot hallucinates, it’s annoying. If a plane hallucinates, it’s fatal.

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𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: We demand a human face for high-stakes accountability.

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: The barrier to greater AI adoption isn’t raw intelligence. It is a stack of human, legal, and cultural constraints.

So, how do we use this insight?

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸: 𝗜𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗜-𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲. It is a commodity. It is table stakes. When the technology becomes uniform, the only unique value proposition left is the people navigating that friction.

And this brings us to what the most 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝘃𝘆 𝗛𝗥 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 are doing right now: they are not solving people problems, they 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 McKinsey & Company 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 "𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀." They recognize that while AI agents can provide a starting point, they cannot replace the context and institutional history that human experts bring to the table.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗥 𝗼𝗿𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲: moving away from static roles to dynamic, activity-based models that engineer the workflow between algorithmic speed and human judgment.

Don't just solve for the technology. Solve for the friction to unleash the full potential of your people. — Ram Srinivasan MIT Alum | Author, The Conscious Machine | Global AI Adoption Leader.

Published in Business Insider, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, MIT Executive Viewpoints and more.

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A Message From Ram:

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Disclaimer:

Ram Srinivasan currently serves as an Innovation Strategist and Transformation Leader, authoring groundbreaking works including "The Conscious Machine" and the upcoming "The Exponential Human."

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