Humans still have something to say in the age of AI

Beyond the failure of CrowdStrike and the systemic problems affecting the technology industry, the global computer blackout made it clear that, in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) everywhere, human beings are not expendable, and that the world is not ready to leave big decisions in the hands of machines. Not only was it flesh-and-blood people who had to manually check in passengers at airports when their screens turned blue, but it was also a person who had to go and fix each of the PCs or servers, said Maldonado.

“When these things arise, there is no automatism that solves it, there has to be a person. [The case of the blackout] opens up that reflection of saying, ‘Hey, are we really prepared to leave all this in the hands of certain automatisms?’ Yes and no. Today, you have to have a plan B. We’ll see tomorrow,” he says.

For Llaneza, this type of case reflects the need for greater regulation of the technology sector and overturns the hypothesis of some that controls stifle innovation.