Let’s face it: artificial intelligence (AI) is infiltrating every industry with no signs of slowing down. As it’s moving at lightning-speed, many of us wrestle with potential repercussions: privacy issues, security threats, job loss. But let’s take a step back.
We’re all guilty of being hesitant or afraid of what we don’t know. Before we continue stressing over the possibility of being “automated” out of work, let’s take a look at the unbound potential and positive impacts of AI.
For decades, the business world has experienced an ongoing evolution in how to work more efficiently. Technology and automation itself is nothing new. When introduced, calculators automated computations for mathematicians; cars automated transport for people; tractors automated agriculture for farmers. Each of these technologies created a more efficient process for repetitive work, which freed time for people to focus on other types of work. Thus, these technologies were a tool rather than a replacement.
The same concept goes for AI. AI should be seen as a tool for us to work better, rather than a replacement. The difference with AI is that it is very sophisticated, with the ability to impact every industry. And it’s moving quickly, which causes disruption for many traditional firms and industries as they play catch up.
While AI will provide recommended purchases on Amazon, suggest playlists of Spotify and connect us to Lyft or Uber rides in seconds, these are all technologies that improve the quality of life, the core goal of any technology or innovation. And with improved quality of life, we as a human race won’t become more robotic but actually, more human. Here are 3 ways AI can make that happen:
1) AI can increase our emotional intelligence.
AI at the core is a machine, a robot and something without the elements of a human, such as empathy, compassion, emotions and honesty. So much of the business world relies on these human elements, such as customer service or customer experience. While AI is already present in chatbots and automated customer service phone lines, these technologies don’t replace the human touch that is core to a truly memorable customer experience.
Multiple studies show that experience is everything in the business world. For example, A PwC report The Future of CX explains that human touch is the true connector in customer experience in which businesses create real connections by making technology feel more human. People are loyal to brands that provide consistent value with minimal stress and frustration. The report explains that 82% of consumers in the U.S. want more human interaction. Why? Businesses are using AI to improve efficiency for their employees, but not all businesses are thinking of the benefit for their most important stakeholder: their customers.
As AI alleviates repetitive tasks or provides automated answers for frequently asked questions, human connectivity is still core to what people want to experience, forcing us to think more about human behavior.
Emotional intelligence is not only the ability to understand and manage our own emotions, but also the ability to understand others’ emotions and the impact of human behavior. AI will take the repetition out of mundane processes, but AI can lead us to be more mindful, in which we think more about the other person’s emotions and other ways to create stronger relationships.
2) AI can foster stronger collaboration among humans.
The alarming threat everyone feels is a loss of control in their lives with AI. No longer are individuals making their own decisions, but code-driven algorithms make decisions for humans, sacrificing a person’s independence and free will. People are most alarmed when they don’t understand the context of how the algorithms work.
It’s scary to think that data and intelligence is in the hands of any technology’s creator, but serving humanity’s best interests (and again, improved quality of life) is the underlying goal of any technology. The key to developing this trust in the technology requires control.
By controlling the future of AI, the human race prioritizes the future of humanity. How can the human race establish this control? Collaboration.
Government policies, cross-country agreements, widely-accepted approaches. Multiple avenues must be explored across borders and stakeholders groups to develop a universal understanding of how to use AI for the greater good. AI will drive humans to collaborate by putting parameters in place to prevent these technologies from going rouge or from reflecting our current state bias and assumptions.
3) AI can help us grow into well-rounded individuals.
We’re in the midst of a Fifth Industrial Revolution. We’ve mentioned that previous technologies helped workers become more efficient, creating more time to be spent on other tasks that were less mundane or repetitive. AI is an enabler, a tool, and not a replacement for work that requires human connectivity.
Given that AI in industry will make employees more productive and efficient, we are at a crossroads in determining what to do with that freed time once spent on repetitive tasks. As a result, we have the opportunity to become more well-rounded individuals. How?
We can spend the freed time learning new skill sets, developing new innovations, thinking creatively, or brainstorming how to improve experiences. For example, a financial planner who once manually processed claims now as AI coding this for him. This creates more time for the financial planner to better understand his client’s financial goals. Or a marketing professional who once manually scheduled social media content now as AI managing this for her. In both cases, this creates more time for the professional to develop creative solutions to complex issues and focus on serving people’s changing needs.
Every industry has examples of how AI can improve the efficiency of work and create more time for individuals to hone in on other skills or self-improvement tactics.
The future of AI is exciting, as it is an opportunity for humans to grow both in personal and professional ways. In short, AI will help us become more mindful: we have the potential to become more aware of our own emotions and the emotions of others, more collaborative and more focused on self-improvement. But it all starts with changing our perspective of AI and understanding that a core reason for AI’s existence is our improved quality of life.
Stay tuned for more practical steps on how to apply AI leadership in your organization.
