Before answering this question, I think it would be useful to take a brief look at the history of artificial intelligence.  

One of the earliest humanoid forms of artificial intelligence, perhaps the most unusual, is the plan made by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1495 for an automaton (the name given to robots at the time) in the guise of an armored Teutonic knight. 

I believe some of you know that Leonardo Da Vinci was not only a great artist but also an incredible inventor. He had inventions such as parachute, helicopter, machine gun and diving suit. I was very surprised when I first heard about these, but Da Vinci has some designs that caught my attention more: Robots.  

Da Vinci was fascinated by the human body. Besides, he was working as an engineer in the military. As both an engineer and a curious person, he was mostly interested in movement. Movement, how was it happening? Which muscles triggered which organs? How did birds fly?  

Da Vinci simplified his studies of the human body as much as possible and designed a mechanism that could move on its own using gears and ropes. He then placed this mechanism inside a knight's armor. The robot consisted of two different systems: An upper system that could move the shoulders, arms and hands, and a lower system that controlled the legs. According to what is written, this robot could walk, sit, and move its jaw as if it were talking. In addition to all this, it is said that it could do complex things such as holding a pencil and drawing pictures. But unfortunately, Da Vinci's robot did not survive to this day. However, in 2002, Mark Rosheim tried to revive this robot using Da Vinci's drawings as an example, and he was successful. Rosheim was so impressed by this work that he used Da Vinci's system as a basis when designing exploration robots for NASA. 

We are talking about a person who has influenced NASA today with what he left behind from the 1400s, isn't it incredible? I am sure that when we look at the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and Salvator Mundi, we will remember that Da Vinci was much more than just a painter. 

In the early 1900s, many articles were written focusing on the idea of artificial people. 

In 1921, Czech playwright Karel Čapek published the science fiction play “Rossum's ”Universal Robots". In the play, he came up with the idea of “artificial people”, which he called robots. This was the first known use of the word. 

In 1929, Japanese professor Makoto Nishimura built the first Japanese robot named “GAKUTENSOKU”. 

The birth of artificial intelligence as a discernible field of study took place in the early 1950s. This period was marked by the works of the British mathematician and logician Alan Turing. 

In 1950, Alan Turing asked the question "Can machines think?" in his article "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and proposed the Turing Test to find the answer to this question. The Turing Test is a test that aims to measure the human-like thinking ability of a machine. The basic principle of the test is quite simple: In an environment consisting of a human referee, a computer, and another human, the referee tries to figure out which participant is human and which is computer. If the computer can behave like a human being enough to deceive the referee, then, according to Turing, the computer is considered to be "thinking." Turing brought a new perspective to artificial intelligence research by proposing to evaluate a machine's ability to think in a way similar to that of a human. This test is also used as a goal and benchmark in the artificial intelligence ​​development process. It was a pioneering and visionary approach. Today, artificial intelligence technology is developing rapidly, and the Turing Test is still used to evaluate these developments. However, modern artificial intelligence systems have gone beyond algorithms designed to pass the Turing Test. Advances in areas such as deep learning, natural language processing, and machine learning have significantly increased the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Technologies that were unimaginable in Turing's time have become reality today. 

In 1952, Computer Scientist Arthur Samuel developed a computer program that played checkers; and it became the first program to learn to play the game independently. 

In 1966, Joseph Weizenbaum created the first chatterbot (later shortened to chatbot) ELIZA, a fake psychotherapist who used natural language processing (NLP) to talk to people. Eliza is a milestone in the history of artificial intelligence and has inspired today’s chatbots such as Siri and ChatGPT. In 1966, MIT Prof. Joseph Waizenbaum imitated the mirroring technique used by Carl Rogers in Individual Psychotherapy. By analyzing people's inputs, it identified keywords, patterns, and contexts, and produced responses accordingly. Eliza's answers were so convincing that some users said they felt emotionally connected to it, and even forgot they were communicating with a computer.  

From the late 70s to the early 90s, the Artificial Intelligence Winter took place. It led to funding cuts and a general stagnation in artificial intelligence research and development. Both private investors and the government have lost interest in artificial intelligence and have stopped funding it due to high cost and seemingly low returns. 

Until Deep Blue, developed by IBM in 1997, became the first program to beat world chess champion Gary Kasparov… Developments continued after that; in 2011, Apple released Siri, the first popular virtual assistant. In 2014, Microsoft released Cortana, a virtual assistant version similar to Siri. Also in 2014, Amazon created Amazon Alexa, a home assistant that turned into smart speakers that function as personal assistants. 

In 2016, Hanson Robotics created a humanoid robot named Sophia, known as Saudi Arabia’s first “robot citizen,” and the first robot with a realistic human appearance and the ability to replicate emotions and communicate. 

ChatGPT, which we now use as a daily routine, entered our lives at the end of 2022. Artificial intelligence makes our lives easier with brand new launches every day. 

We were already talking about robots, but now we have started talking about human-looking physical artificial intelligence. I recommend you to examine the humanoid robot named "Eve" by the Norwegian company 1X, in which OpenAI invested. Eve moves autonomously by being controlled by neural networks. We can guess how much easier it can make our lives from its skills in home and office work. 

With all this history, we can see that artificial intelligence has become an indispensable part of our lives, like electricity, telephone and the internet, and how strongly and rapidly it continues to penetrate our lives. So, who wins in the battle of Artificial Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence? Perhaps the real question we should be asking is: Is such a war necessary?  

While seeking an answer to this question, I find it useful to take a look at the research on Generation Z, whose number is 2 billion in the world population.  

Gen Z, born between 1995 and 2009, make up 27% of the working population. 

They are looking for empathy, conflict management, psychological trust environment in leadership. They want to be understood, not just managed. 74% of them find empathetic leadership “very important.” (EY Gen Z Survey) Emotional intelligence, active listening, and cultural awareness are the most in-demand competencies. (WEF 2023) 

They care about doing Meaningful and Value-Oriented Works and leaving a mark. According to PwC’s Workforce of the Future 2030 research, 73% of Gen Z employees want to work to make a difference in the world, not just to make money. LinkedIn data shows that Gen Z is more likely to work at “purpose-driven” companies. 

Psychological Safety and Emotional Support are extremely important to them. 71% of them want to work with an employer that cares about mental health. (APA Work & Well-Being Survey) They want to be understood and feel safe in their work environment. And according to the research conducted by HBR in 2022, empathetic leadership increases employee engagement by 40%. 

Finally, they care about the focus on Social Responsibility and Social Empathy of not only their teams and managers, but also the companies they work for. 70% of them expect companies to be sensitive to environmental and social issues. (Deloitte 2023) Trust is directed towards institutions that demonstrate integrity with values. (Edelman Trust Barometer) 

In other words, on one side, there is an increasingly powerful technology, and on the other side, there is a new generation that is starting to give more importance to emotion. So, what are we going to do? 

1-) Don't be stubborn, go with the flow! 

I mentioned that Deep Blue, developed by IBM in 1997, was the first program to beat world chess champion Gary Kasparov.  

Just when we thought “artificial intelligence has surpassed humans, we are finished”, Kasparov, seemingly defeated, made a very clever move. He started a new chess league called Centaur Chess: In this league, humans and artificial intelligence play together. And do you know who the best chess players in the world are today? Neither humans alone, nor computers alone = teams where humans and computers work together! This move by Kasparov is a great example of how we can adapt to the flow.  

2-) Adapt Quickly to Change!

The longest-living creature in nature is not the fastest or most agile cheetah, but the tortoise, which adapts most quickly to change. Spotify has now replaced records, cassettes and CDs from years ago. We no longer need an object to listen to music, we can listen to the music we want wherever and whenever we want. Likewise, we are not bound by the predetermined broadcast schedules of Video Cassettes, DVDs or television channels. With Netflix and Youtube, we can watch the broadcast we want anytime we want from the device we want.  

There is something that Gen Z does not remember, but we Gen X'ers ​​remember very well: The introduction of mobile phones into our lives. We were young people who would talk to their friends from home and meet in front of the Kadıköy Bull statue; when I think about it now, I can't believe how we did it. Over time, our mobile phones have become almost an organ of ours that we look at every 13 minutes and that Turkish people realize they have lost within an average of 10 minutes.  

All these developments clearly show us the importance of quick adaptation. We should see artificial intelligence as an opportunity, make our lives easier by experiencing a new artificial intelligence application for at least 30 minutes every day, and then perhaps think about how we can adapt them to our work lives. We can start with simple things like asking Siri for help when calling someone or using note-taking apps instead of taking notes. Because if we don't do it, others will.   

3-) Be more ”Human".

The most powerful aspect of emotional intelligence compared to artificial intelligence: Empathy. So, while we use artificial intelligence to save time in our lives, we should also try to strengthen this ability even more. Position yourself at the intersection of where artificial intelligence is good and where humans are good! If we are doctors, we should use artificial intelligence analyses for accurate diagnosis, but we should communicate with the patient ourselves in an empathetic way. In human resources, we should get support from artificial intelligence to prepare short lists for job interviews, but exit interviews should be conducted by humans. It is possible to make faster decisions thanks to artificial intelligence, but we should not forget that we still need our discernment, especially to make complex decisions. 

4) Learn to ask the right questions.

When I was at university, there were libraries, we could access information by researching in encyclopedias and books for long hours. Now, it is very easy to get answers, but the value of questions has increased! If we do not ask the right questions, that is, if we do not give the right prompts, the answers we get from artificial intelligence will be ordinary and generic. In fact, we have brand new jobs like “prompt engineer” in our lives.   

The question that always comes to our minds is: What will happen to us? Will artificial intelligence take our jobs?  

According to Gartner, the impact of artificial intelligence on global business will be neutral by 2026. By then, more than 100 million people will use “robo-colleagues” to contribute to their work. By 2033, artificial intelligence solutions will create new jobs for more than 500 million people. 

At this point, it seems that artificial intelligence will not take people's jobs, but the jobs of people who keep their distance from artificial intelligence are in danger.