AI can increase productivity, but can't replace human purpose | Opinion

AI can increase productivity, but can't replace human purpose | Opinion

A few weeks after graduation season, many college graduates are asking a troubling question: Where are the jobs? Employers say they cannot find qualified talent while graduates struggle to find meaningful opportunities. At the same time, artificial intelligence is reshaping the workplace faster than many institutions can respond. During a recent trip to Phoenix, Arizona, I experienced a glimpse of that future.

My wife and I decided to ride in a Waymo driverless vehicle. We unlocked the car with our phones, climbed into the back seat and watched it navigate busy city streets with remarkable precision. As I stared at the empty driver's seat, one thought crossed my mind: I felt like Fred Flintstone visiting the Jetsons. The future wasn't coming. It had already arrived.

What struck me most was not the technology itself but the realization that a job once performed by a human being had become automated. Outside the conference center, artificial intelligence was already working. Inside, higher education leaders were still debating AI policies and whether students should use AI in the classroom.

That experience reinforced a lesson I have learned throughout my career in government and higher education: Disruption rarely announces itself. It arrives quietly until one day the world looks different, and the old assumptions no longer work.

Until recently, I served as dean of the business school at Langston University. I remain grateful to President Ruth Ray Jackson for taking a chance on a nontraditional dean and creating space for innovation. Our experience reinforced one simple truth: Innovation is not reserved for institutions with billion-dollar endowments or elite brands. Real progress begins with leaders willing to challenge assumptions and act with urgency.

I remember one student stopping after class to discuss artificial intelligence and career opportunities. Like many first-generation college students, he was uncertain about the future. Months later, after earning industry-recognized credentials and gaining practical experience, his confidence had changed. Our students ranked among the top 1% nationally on a rigorous business assessment in 2025, but the more meaningful outcome was watching students finally see a place for themselves in the future.

Unfortunately, urgency is often missing across American institutions. Organizations built for stability now operate in an economy that rewards adaptability. Artificial intelligence evolves monthly, while most institutions evolve annually. The labor market is already sending clear signals. Employers increasingly seek adaptability, AI literacy, practical experience and demonstrated skills. Yet our conversations about artificial intelligence often focus on technology while overlooking something far more important: people.

Work provides more than a paycheck. It provides identity, dignity, purpose, community and belonging. That is why the greatest danger of artificial intelligence may not be job displacement. The greater danger may be human displacement. The deeper danger emerges when people begin to believe they are no longer needed.

Throughout history, societies have survived disruption because people rebuilt together. Technology can increase productivity, but it cannot replace human purpose. It cannot mentor a young worker, encourage a struggling employee, strengthen a family or rebuild a community. Those responsibilities still belong to us.

The driverless vehicle that carried my wife and me through Phoenix was not a science-fiction experiment. It was a functioning business model. Similar technologies will continue transforming how we live and work. I do not write about disruption as an outside observer. Throughout my career, I have helped organizations navigate uncertainty, adapt to change and rebuild. Those experiences taught me a simple truth: Institutions succeed only when they keep people at the center of change.

The question is no longer whether disruption is coming. The question is whether we will prepare people before it arrives. As I rode silently through Phoenix, I realized something important. The future belongs neither to the Flintstones nor the Jetsons. It belongs to communities that embrace innovation without sacrificing humanity. In the age of artificial intelligence, our greatest work is ensuring that people still have a place to belong — and preparing leaders willing to build that future.

Daryl D. Green is a business strategist, speaker and author. A former dean of the business school at Langston University, Green is the creator of The Nehemiah Blueprint in the Age of AI, a thought-leadership platform exploring leadership, rebuilding, workforce transformation and human belonging during times of disruption.

(Editor's note: The views expressed in this column are those of the writer and not necessarily those of The Oklahoman.)