Human machines to machine humans

The Industrial Revolution did not just change how we worked and earned; it quietly rewired how we felt. What began as human ingenuity in the 19th century with steam engines and spinning mills became a discipline of human conformity by the latter half of the 20th century. While it delivered unprecedented prosperity, it also produced unexpected side effects.

Efficiency and productivity emerged as the twin gods of industrialisation, and these two words spread through society faster than office gossip. Humans invented machines to enhance efficiency and productivity. But that wasn’t enough; humans had to become efficient too. As Frederick Taylor’s stopwatch clicked, people learned to measure themselves not in happiness, but in output per hour.

Emotions—those wonderful companions—were gently shown the exit door. “Be rational,” people were told. “Leave your feelings at home.” Thus, humans aligned themselves with prakriti—the mechanical forces of nature—so completely that they began to forget the purusha—the consciousness within. Success was measured in output, not awareness; in speed, not stillness.

For the masters of industry, emotions and awareness did not improve output. Workers were advised not to feel or display emotions and were asked to behave like machines. The argument was simple: machines never complained or expressed emotions while delivering excellent output consistently. To survive and possibly succeed, workers subdued their emotions, and rationality became the supreme guide to decision-making.

No company has ever reported: “Q4 results are down 12%, but empathy is up 18%, so overall, an excellent quarter.” Slowly, humans began walking the path of the machines!

Charlie Chaplin saw what was happening and captured it well. In Modern Times, he gave us that unforgettable image of a man literally swallowed by the gears of industry. He showed us Tramp tightening bolts so automatically that he continued the ‘work’ with imaginary bolts! It was comedy, yes—but comedy with the unsettling aftertaste of truth. As Chaplin himself once said, “We think too much and feel too little.” The tragedy was not that machines began to act like humans, but that humans began to act like machines.

And we complied—brilliantly. We became punctual, productive and efficient. But history, almost like irony, has a sense of humour.

Just when humans had perfected the art of becoming machines, the 21st century introduced artificial intelligence. With its arrival, we are witnessing a curious reversal. After almost two centuries of turning humans into machines, we are spending billions to turn machines into humans. Strangely enough, we are pretty successful. Now, machines write poetry, compose music and even offer sympathy. They don’t just calculate; they converse. They don’t just react; they anticipate and respond. Of late machines are working hard to become even more human – even attending workshops to learn humour! In short, they don’t just work—they behave and even say, “I understand how you feel!”

Really? Do we really want them to?

In our pursuit of flawless efficiency and super productivity, we overlooked some core aspects. Now, in a world of perfect algorithms and tireless processors, humans find themselves yearning—not for more intelligence, but for more human attributes. More warmth. More pause. More soul. We won’t like our AI-driven refrigerator to remind us to eat fresh food.

The only competitive advantage the humans have in this AI world is their emotions and feelings. After suppressing them for almost two centuries in the name of productivity and efficiency, we are beginning to miss these truly human traits. Perhaps what we genuinely seek is not artificial intelligence, but genuine humanness.

Somewhere, Charlie Chaplin is probably watching all this and shaking his head. One cannot help but wonder: will some future AI, inspired by Chaplin, create its own version of Modern Times—this time showing machines trapped in the gears of human emotion? Will it pause mid-algorithmic process to ask, like Chaplin’s Tramp, what it all means?

Or will it simply optimise the question away?

For now, we wait.

Machines can act without any emotions, as they have none of it to begin with. But humans are meant to act with awareness of their true nature. The greatest danger is not that machines will become like human beings but that humans will forget that they were never machines.

In this grand story of progress, the final irony may well be this: We taught machines to think.

They may yet teach us how to feel.

(The writer is a Bengaluru- based automobile industry professional with a keen interest in circularity and emerging technologies)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)