The potential Artificial Intelligence (AI) has, to change the way we live is vast. It is predicted to be the next transformational technology. The application of AI presents both opportunity and risk for society as we know it.
AI already touches aspects of our everyday lives. Yesterday I visited some home improvement websites; today I find adverts from Google and Facebook for relevant home furnishings inserted into my browsing experience. Amazon suggests toys I may wish to purchase for my grandson. Products I ordered on-line were probably selected by a robot in the warehouse prior to delivery.
Looking to the future, AI may determine if I am interviewed for a job, how a call centre agent handles my query, if my application for a financial product is successful and if I get stopped by a policeman.
AI will enable services that improve customer experiences, often through new business models requiring skilled staff; it is a new industry that will provide skilled employment.
However, there are serious concerns: will the automation it delivers lead to major job losses and skills erosion? Can the output of the AI algorithms be trusted to be fair? There are also practical challenges such as storing and processing the vast quantities of data; these require significant storage and computational capacity as well as effective security and compliance measures.
Organisations are getting to grips with how they deploy the technology; they don’t want to be left behind so need to dip their toe in the water. It is unclear if organisational structures will support the pace of development needed; policies are required to manage ethical considerations and protect brand image. Governments may need to regulate aspects of the market but are unlikely to want to hinder innovation.
The pace of adoption and the full breadth of applications are unclear. It is clear, that AI is here to stay; organisations that adopt it successfully will deliver improved and innovative services to their customers and gain competitive advantage.
Therefore, the time is right to consider how AI can help your organisation; to develop and implement strategies, to identify and realise the opportunities AI will offer, whilst mitigating the challenges and risks.
Collaborative AI brings practical expertise in both large-scale enterprise change management and the development and deployment of AI solutions.
For practical advice on the deployment of AI please get in touch: john@collaborative-ai.com.