How can your humans benefit from digital assistants? In this article we explore whether businesses can live in harmony with (or, indeed, live without) robots.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-33px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|40px||40px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″]
According to McKinsey Global Institute, \u2018While less than 5 percent of all occupations can be automated entirely using demonstrated technologies, about 60 percent of all occupations have at least 30 percent of constituent activities that could be automated.\u2019 That suggests a lot of people are going to be forced out of work, but is that really true?<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-26px|||||”] Walk along any seafront on a breezy day and you\u2019ll notice that, sometimes, the crashing wave you expect to come crashing down on the rocks just ebbs away and disappears into nothing. That happened on January 1st 2000 when many computing experts expected many mainframe computers to stop working. Or rather, it didn\u2019t happen. It turned out the so-called millennium bug was more like a passing attack of the sneezes.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] In 2021, post the inevitable distraction of the global pandemic, attention is going to naturally turn back to the impact of robots on the world of work\u2014and whether they\u2019re actually going to take over the world instead.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto|-1px|auto||” custom_padding=”6px||2px|||”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/makeinnovation.work\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/robotic-arm-modern-industrial-technology-automated-DUCYZJ7-1.jpg” alt=”internetapps” title_text=”robotic-arm-modern-industrial-technology-automated-DUCYZJ7 (1)” _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||33px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-2px|||||”] Some are FOR artificial intelligence. They include names like Jeff Bezos, Jay-Z, Bono, and others.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] \u201cAutonomous weapons are ‘genuinely scary,’ robots won’t put us all out of work.\u201d\u2014Jeff Bezos<\/strong> On the other side of the argument, others fear the influence of A.I. (or at least in the ability of humans to manage its role). The notables on this list include Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Hawking, and Gary Marcus.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”24px||-3px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] \u201cA.I. is a fundamental existential risk for human civilization, and I don’t think people fully appreciate that.\u201d\u2014Mark Zuckerberg<\/strong> Others sit comfortably on the fence. They include Bill Gates who says the rise in artificial intelligence will mean society will be able to produce a lot more goods and services with less labor. And overwhelmingly, over the last several hundred years, that has been great for society.\u2019 So, he argues, \u2018A.I. is a very very good thing used in an enlightened way.\u2019 But Gates also warns, ‘First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern.\u201d\u2014Bill Gates<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] Look beyond the opinions of celebrities and even the man in the street isn\u2019t sure how this is all going to pan out.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”28px||-1px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|40px||28px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] The University of Oxford\u2019s Future of Humanity Institute ran a 2019 survey<\/span><\/a> on the perspectives of U.S. citizens and found forty-one percent of respondents said they somewhat or strongly supported the development of A.I., while 22 percent said they somewhat or strongly opposed it. The remaining 28 percent said they had no strong feelings one way or the other. The perspectives of business people tend to side with A.I. as being \u2018useful\u2019 if not a force for good. When MIT Sloan Management Review and BCG Henderson Institute surveyed 3,000 global executives<\/span><\/a>, 85% believed that A.I. will allow their companies to \u201cobtain or sustain a competitive advantage.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-2px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] With pundits then on both sides of the argument, and some in between, expecting something miraculous to happen in the next few years in the realm of Artificial Intelligence and an era of machines is \u2018reasonable.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] The good news is that early examples of A.I. and machine-learning are proving how useful \u201ccomputer systems that perform tasks or make decisions that usually require human intelligence\u201d are to the workplace, and workers. They suggest that software robots are finding roles not as \u2018bosses,\u2019 but as \u2018willing workers\u2019 comfortable working as sub-ordinates to busy administrators, customer service supervisors, and Line-of-Business managers.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto|-3px|auto||” custom_padding=”6px||2px|||”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/makeinnovation.work\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/robot-working-with-laptop-JGY9W43-1.jpg” alt=”internetapps” title_text=”robot-working-with-laptop-JGY9W43 (1)” _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”1px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default”] Machine-learning and A.I. is being used today to enable humans to do more, with less resource.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] Using A.I. software robots opens doors to re-designing how organizations are designed with one potential future view suggesting that one human could be looking after a dozen conversational A.I. chatbots and handling exceptions, one scientist could be managing a lab manned by robots performing the tests. Or one researcher could have oversight over hundreds of A.I. driven research robots managing survey design and deployment.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”26px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] Not everyone agrees. Some believe that A.I. robots are more likely to become our bosses than our subordinates. As the New York Times reported in June 2019, \u2018A Machine May Not Take Your Job, but One Could Become Your Boss.\u2019 A.I. technology is good at learning the best outcomes of an activity, to then monitor and coach humans on how best to behave to achieve it.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”22px||-11px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|25px||29px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″] One example highlighted in the NYTimes article is Cogito<\/span><\/a>, an A.I. program used in call centers and other workplaces. When a customer service representative in the call center of the insurance giant MetLife talks to a customer over the phone, they keep one eye on the bottom-right corner of the screen\u2014because that\u2019s where a little blue box driven by A.I. tells them how they\u2019re doing. Talking too fast?<\/strong> The program flashes an icon of a speedometer, indicating to the representative they should slow down. Sound sleepy? <\/strong>The software displays an \u201cenergy cue,\u201d with a picture of a coffee cup. Not empathetic enough?<\/strong> A heart icon pops up. A.I. technologies tune and tweak all sorts of activities in business; from research and experiments, to customer service experience and market grow projections\u2014and everything else in between.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”15px||-5px|-1px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” animation_style=”fade” header_text_shadow_style=”preset3″ border_color_left=”#8497b0″]The Robots Are Coming\u2014But is that Bad News?
Not Everyone Agrees A.I. is a Good Idea
Your New Personal Assistant
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What it Means for the World of Work