AI a double-edged sword
AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines. While that sounds like it’s right from a Sci-Fi movie, this technology has been adapting and evolving in many ways that have already started to impact our lives.
Movies have built entire genres predicting this future, and while we might not live in a world with flying cars or teleportation, we certainly are existing in a time where “robots” are getting smart enough to find themselves employed in all types of sectors. The most common “robots” or complex algorithms typically don’t exist in humanoid bodies but have changed the ways we live, move, interact with each other, shop, learn and have been a large part of the fintech push. This has been largely due to the ability for AI to continuously evolve to adhere to different industries using a cross-disciplinary approach based on mathematics, computer science, linguistics, psychology, and more. Something the average person would find difficult to do day in, day out.
The development of AI systems tends to fall within three main categories:
- Building systems that think like humans
- Computation models to get a job done
- Build systems to inform and inspire, but not imitate
In our new kingdom of automation, industries are seeking new ways to adopt this technology for a variety of reasons. While it is exciting to use this new technology to keep up with the times, industries need to manage the risks and concerns that come with relying on machines.
Positives
- Does mundane tasks
- Eliminates human error
- Consistent customer service
- Deep-dive behaviour analysis
- Finds fraud
- Part of the natural digitization trend of the future
- Transforms processes to fit consumers lives
- Promotes humanitarian tech that helps to improve human life, whether that be through the creation of robotics or delivering resources into disaster zones.
Negatives
- Low-level jobs can be made redundant
- Not enough people can perform high-level AI jobs creating talent gaps in less developed countries for those that have company and government ecosystems established
- Lack of coding diversity which is passed onto the AI that coders create, which can make AI misunderstand or misrepresent people of a different race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity
- Lack of engagement with law and ethics unless programmed to do so
- The over-promise of AI in industries that may not need it or know how to effectively utilise it
- Fears that it will become too intelligent to the point we can no longer control and limit them
Despite the negatives, AI is being adopted at an increasing rate. Whether that is positive or negative will depend on how it is being used. But one thing we do know for certain is, the employee experience is going to have to adapt and change.
