“So what’re you majoring in?”
“I’m planing on majoring in Biomedical Engineering and Anthropology!”
“…What’s anthropology?”
This is a question I’ve been asked multiple times, even from my own parents. Cultural anthropology is “anthropology that deals with human culture especially with respect to social structure, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology” (Merriam Webster). This field analyzes the social, political, and economic structures that make different cultures and societies unique, requiring a rounded and comprehensive understanding of different structures and how they interact in a society and culture. My goals in double majoring in engineering and anthropology are to enter the global health field and combine biomedical research and the understanding of global cultures to create medicines and treatments that are more applicable, affordable, and effective on a global scale.
During our class discussion regarding AI replacing humans, the concept of empathetic human understanding came into question, and whether the loss of knowledge of different cultures can be made up for by the gains in efficiency and automation AI brings. As someone double-majoring in cultural anthropology, I may be slightly biased regarding the importance of a global understanding of multiple cultures.
In my opinion, this comprehensive understanding not only of the cultures themselves, but the human behaviors and instincts that create these cultural structures allows for better innovation. By understanding what a certain culture uses to spread information the fastest, what life values matter most to the members of a culture, what aspects of their daily lives are consistent across generations, and more aspects that may seem irrelevant, new technologies can be implemented in a more effective way. For example, a study was conducted by the WHO that found that despite NGOs building wells with clean water at community/town centers, women still walked a long distance down to the contaminated river to collect water since this activity became one of the few times women were allowed to leave the house and socialize with other women. Thus despite the fact that the new wells with clean water were closer than the river with contaminated water, this solution didn’t prove effective in the context of the daily values and practices of the women involved. This example shows the importance of cultural understanding when it comes to solving any local, national, or global problem.
Now, considering AI and the understanding of cultures, in order for AI to be applied in a manner that improves efficiency and effectiveness, human empathy and cultural understanding are of utmost importance. Stephen Johnson emphasizes the strength of liquid networks regarding the spill over of ideas between disciplines. Creating AI to be programmed in one way in an isolated matter defeats this, and removes the possibilities and opportunities for serendipitous connections and creativity. Thus AI should be implemented in conjunction with human skills, such as life experiences, the ability to make connections outside of a given field (unless the AI is programmed to do this), and empathy in order to be effective in the context of the culture it is supporting. Without taking into consideration the context of the system it supports based on the people’s experiences within that system, all the resources being fueled into improving AI will be worthless if they aren’t operating at full potential in all the given situations they’re implemented in.
An example we discussed in class was the development of machines that could translate what someone else is saying into your own language as they’re speaking, thus eliminating the need to learn multiple languages in order to work with people who speak those languages. This can be seen as an extremely beneficial application in our highly interconnected world of rapid globalization. But languages are one of the biggest factors that impact our worldview through small differences, such as gendered nouns, tenses, and stressing syllables. These small differences change how different groups view the world, such as perceiving some objects to have certain gendered qualities, viewing events in the present as the past rather than present, and creating different meanings with different enunciations. Eliminating the need to learn language to communicate between cultures eliminates the lens into understanding how cultures other than one’s own view the world, thus creating a barrier and limiting understanding of what’s being conveyed. And this is just one example within developments in AI regarding language and international communication.
In my slightly biased opinion, a comprehensive understanding of global cultural structures is necessary to creating effective policies, treatments, and regulations that efficiently and positively impact those they are designed to help. Not only is this needed in our current human systems, but in AI as well, in order to improve overall efficiency and move towards creating technology that positively impacts the globe rather than the sparse pockets of wealth that have the luxury of creating and employing these new technological innovations.