ÇEVRE HIGHLIGHTS - 30. SAYI

66 HAZ İ RAN 2026 difference between robots and humans in the world of the future? That is a beautiful question. We say we are in the age of AI and robots. Will the need for humans disappear, or how will humans exist? AI can write code in my place now, or it can complete a homework assignment given by your teacher much better than you can, right? Beyond that, just last week, we got my wife’s medical test results and went to the hospital, but the doctor wasn’t there. We took a photo of the results and uploaded it to ChatGPT. It told us, “There is nothing to worry about or be anxious about; these medications might be considered, but consult your doctor.” Normally, we probably wouldn’t have reached that doctor until the following week, and for a whole week, we would have been anxious looking at that report. Look how much it eased my life. In these matters, yes, our lives will become much easier, but there will always be a need for humans. Where will that need be? We can approach things intuitively. For example, when you don’t do your homework, you can feel your father’s or mother’s expression change, right? You can feel that because you have emotions and intuition; machines and robots do not. Therefore, in the upcoming period, the most crucial thing separating humans from robots will be human uniqueness— this intuitive approach. A human who can manage their intuition and emotions, and find their real-world equivalent, will always reach a better position. Robots will always do tasks better, perhaps, but they will remain dependent on humans. Could robotics engineering, technology, and engineering change like this in the future, or is there a possibility of them disappearing? Great question. Perhaps in the future, AI will build robots, and robots will start making other robots. Such a system is possible. However, there will always be a need for a human to design the robot that makes the robots, write the necessary controls, or manage it. Look at what we experience today: you are probably fed up with the traffic in Istanbul. There are motorcycles and couriers everywhere, delivering cargo or food. Perhaps in the future, this won’t be necessary because drones will become so cheap and durable that deliveries will be made through the air. Consequently, instead of traditional courier jobs, people will strive to become drone operators. There will be people who maintain those drones, change their batteries, or load the packages—or those traditional workers will face unemployment. Therefore, you must always look at things with flexibility; you must learn how to learn. For instance, suppose you became a robotics engineer, but suddenly everything in that field started being done by robots. New jobs that absolutely require human intervention will inevitably emerge. You must learn those new fields and continue your life from there. The key phrase here is fast learning. In mathematics, you learn square roots, exponents, or pool and distance problems, right? There is an algorithm to solve a pool problem or a distance problem. Once you learn that algorithm, you can solve it no matter how difficult the question is; you have achieved learning. If you look at life and your profession through this lens, you will never face any issues. What skills should a student who wants to learn software development develop first? Mathematics is at the foundation of this work. Especially if you want to develop deep technology with higher value-added AI, you need to master mathematics completely. You need to love math. For example, we can fit an infinite number of values between zero and one; that is mind-blowing. You’ve probably heard of the number Pi (), right? Right now, we shop online using credit cards, and the mechanism ensuring that security is derived from the number Pi. You can start by learning these kinds of stories—the real-world and technological equivalents of mathematics. Once you love mathematics, your algorithmic thinking skills will naturally develop. And anyone who can think algorithmically can become a good software engineer. There is a theory that in the future, robots will take over all human professions. Do you think they could take over medicine too? For example, can robots perform surgeries? Not right now, but in the future, perhaps. Even in surgeries today, human doctors can make mistakes. We can lose people on the operating table due to medical errors. In highly precise, perhaps nanometric surgeries—like heart or brain surgeries— robots might perform better than humans in the future. Student: Can their motor skills develop that much? They can develop significantly, reaching a much better point than humans. However, consider a surgeon who opens a patient’s skull and looks at the brain. A robot can only perform the pre-programmed surgery, but a surgeon can apply intuition. A medical doctor will still be needed there. But if the task is completely standardized, a robot surgeon might do a better job than a human. Could robots threaten us in the future? Can robots threaten us? I think they are threatening certain professions even right now; we can say they have already eliminated some. But the professions they eliminated are generally routine tasks—like an assembly line in a factory where your only job is tightening something with a screwdriver. Perhaps those types of jobs should be eliminated because humans ought to do work based on creativity and higher value-add. What does “value-added” mean? For instance, you can harvest and sell raw hazelnuts, or you can turn those hazelnuts into Nutella and sell them—the latter has a higher value-add because it is more valuable. Humans need to do these kinds of tasks. So, let’s not view it purely as a threat. This might sound a bit silly, but can artificial intelligence collect data about us through our questions and use it against us? It can. Perhaps not right now, but suppose nations entered a global conflict—a World War. God forbid, I hope it never happens, but let’s assume it did. If I am an important person, an adversarial state would want to use all available data about me. What did this person ask ChatGPT? What did he share on Facebook? What did he watch on YouTube? That would be critical data for them. It collects our data. Even if we tell it not to, it does. Normally, it shouldn’t, but all tech companies do this. However, look at it this way: ChatGPT is a wonderful tool. Instead of making it do your homework for you, it is a magnificent resource to get support and push yourself further. Think of it as having a teacher next to you who knows everything and whom you can always consult. I suggest you do not share deeply personal things regarding your mood. Don’t share your inner world with AI by saying things like, “I feel terrible, what do you suggest?” That is not