AI is ready and willing; are humans?
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Many humans enjoy Artificial Intelligence personally at home – ranging from just-for-you movie recommendations on Netflix to product recommendations on Amazon. On the contrary, most humans don’t use AI professionally at work. AI-based recommendations are powerful and personalized for you, so why hasn’t it become an everyday phenomenon at work?
What if, with your permission and oversight, AI could automatically do your repetitive tasks? What if AI suggested the answer for your next business email reply? What if AI could suggest solutions for your complex work problems based on decades of data from billions of humans and projects?
Why hasn’t this already happened at work? Why won’t humans trust AI at work as they do at home? AI could recommend everything that a person wants to know exactly when they want to know and even do tasks for them. It could also recommend what not to do based on past failures. For AI to work effectively, it simply needs relevant information, on the job aids and the worker. It can then do its magic and bring the power of Netflix and Amazon to work.
Thousands of engineers are trying to address this trillion-dollar potential market. However, their brilliant algorithms face challenges that are well beyond the software code. Machine learning and predictive analysis can’t learn and predict everything. Systems at work can’t quickly be upgraded because of existing corporate investments, established business processes, regulatory requirements, and busy people. No brainer projects might take years to get implemented because of corporate due diligence. Access to information about people gets blocked because of global data privacy laws. These laws are not mature enough to differentiate between spam and genuine help.
What if job aids had the same quality as Hollywood? Even low budget movies can have high-quality content. Artificial Intelligence for work needs to be relevant and engaging enough to snap workers out of their routine. AI can AmazIngly accelerate human productivity at work, but it needs shorter software purchase and implementation cycles, executive sponsorship, privacy law exceptions, high-quality content, and receptive humans. Successful industry disruptors and the world’s most valuable companies have leveraged AI to get a competitive edge, scale, and accelerate work productivity. Most humans would use AI at work if enabled by their organization or business partners. Yes, most humans are ready and willing.