The second session of the 'dIAlogos' series, organised by the Vice-Rectorate for Strategic Planning and Digital Culture to promote and expand digital culture in relation to the impact and repercussion of AI on society and education, featured a talk by Macarena Estévez, an expert in Data Science and Data Analytics. Ricardo Palomo, Dean of the School of Economics and Business, accompanied the speaker in a colloquium titled: 'How can people and machines collaborate?'

The expert explained the role that AI plays in companies, academic institutions, and in our daily lives as human beings. In today's society, there is a fearful perception regarding advanced technology and possible automation, causing the frequent question: 'Will machines replace us?' Estévez emphasised that "machines will never be like humans, as they learn from data and we learn from experiences. We have ideas, critical judgement, creative evaluation, intellectual curiosity, and emotional intelligence, all of which are very important. Now, they are trying to make machines detect our emotional state, whether we are happy, sad, or angry; apart from being unethical, these machines will never achieve the power of human insight."

In a transformative digital society with increasing access to technologies that have become our primary source of information, riding the wave of AI, for Ms Estevez,  is crucial because "access to knowledge is universal, complete, and infinite." However, we need to know how to manage and adapt these technologies to the business world and differentiate ourselves from machines. To avoid replacement and automation, we have "the option to climb up the corporate ladder because we distinguish ourselves by our ability to think, by our comprehensive vision, by our holistic vision, by the ability to question, and by what is the essence of being human."

Macarena Estévez has advocated for a future in which humans will be "a species complemented by machines with a great capacity," but for companies, "the intangible values of each individual" will be the most important asset. The Data Science expert highlights that companies are allowing everyone to access generative artificial intelligence as a competitive tool of differentiation. In order to address the current concern of falling behind in the job market, "we must enrich ChatGPT and other AI technologies, and we must also create our own intelligences with the unique and creative intelligence that human beings possess." Machines have freed us from many tasks and many jobs, and we live in a revolution with access to generative artificial intelligence, causing a radical change in society and the economy.

Following her presentation, a round of questions was held where students raised several concerns. Estévez concluded that there is indeed a world where humans and AI can coexist and collaborate, but always on the basis of care and adaptation.