AI is radically reshaping how we work and transforming the workplace. However, this is only true for businesses that have implemented it strategically and understood why they wanted it and what problems they wanted to solve. Research from Asana stated that only 31% of companies have implemented an AI strategy.
Many companies have rushed to invest in AI tools for fear of missing out, unsure why they need it and how, when and where they plan to use it. Often, they haven’t trained their employees or set up any processes for using AI, leaving the gates open to security threats and employees producing off-brand, generic, and poor-quality products that will be detrimental to their reputation and brand.
CEO of Britannic Technologies.
Back to Basics
AI’s powers are undoubtedly mind-blowing, but without a strategy and understanding of your objectives, the technology won’t be utilized fully, and the benefits will go undiscovered. This is the same when investing in any technology. If you don’t know what problems you want to solve and what your objectives are, it is unlikely to be a success.
The Why
Any business that wants to implement AI or another transformative technology needs to investigate why it wants it. AI is the latest disruptive technology everyone is talking about, but too many businesses are deploying it because they don’t want to miss out. This is not a race; if you don’t know why you want it or how you will use it, then it is a waste of investment. Without a strategy, it could also have the reverse effect and be detrimental to your brand.
The technology market has exploded, and it can be challenging for businesses to understand what technology they need and why, and which vendor to buy it from. By working with a technology consultant, they will help you identify and solve problems with AI and other technologies, joining up the dots between business needs and technology.
Have a Plan
For AI to be a success and deliver, it is critical to invest the time in understanding why you need it and to explore the following:
1) What do you want to improve?
2) Why do you want to improve it?
3) How are you planning to improve?
4) Where do you want to be?
By exploring these areas, you can devise an AI strategy, setting measurable objectives and a success criterion so you can evaluate as you go on, ensuring you are succeeding. Incorporating AI or any transformative technology into your business is an evolutionary journey. It takes time to learn what works and what doesn’t, and time for employees to get used to the technology.
Leveling up the Why
Asking why provides the detail you need to transform your customer experience or streamline processes, or produce content using AI.
Getting the best out of AI is about taking a creative approach, applying critical thinking and getting beyond the surface. The good news is that humans excel in these skills and machines don’t! This level of thinking is like an investigator drumming up theories before searching for clues. You can’t seek out clues if you don’t know why and what you are looking for.
Take the time to go to the next level of thinking, understanding the what’s and whys, and drilling down, asking detailed questions to get the answers. An AI solution can analyze your customer database in seconds, unearthing trends and patterns that reveal problems you didn’t know existed or providing detailed information on the ones you did. By diving into the details, you understand issues more deeply and can construct relevant solutions to fix them.
Think of AI as a treasure chest. It’s all there, but you must find it. How you find the treasure and what you will do with it is up to you. A technology consultant is advisable to help you with this process.
The same applies with AI prompts. The more detail and better you craft it, the more you will get out of it to help you. What it returns will ignite an idea for you to go back and ask another prompt, and so forth, until you are happy with what you have got.
Deconstructing AI
Digital transformation can be overwhelming, but it is essential to understand that it can be broken down into manageable areas, so you don’t need to do everything all at once. By breaking it down into steps, you can delve into the details and test the solution with a proof of concept to explore what you want to disregard and develop, helping you move forward.
A technology consultant can guide you on this journey and ensure that your systems and existing technology are integrated seamlessly.
You will need to test and train your solutions and your employees. Fear stems from the unknown and the new. Employees should be involved from the start of introducing AI into the business.
Encourage them to share the challenges they face daily and make suggestions on improvements that could be made. This way, everyone understands why the AI solution will benefit them, lessening the fear that AI will replace them.
Lessons in AI
A complete training program should be implemented so everyone understands how AI fits into the process, enabling them to work smarter and know when and where to use it. AI literacy is essential for its success, your safety and security, and your reputation and should be combined with training programs, resources and support. TechUK reported that 97% of HR leaders said their organizations offered AI training, but a mere 39% of employees received it.
AI has and will change how we work, and new skills are required for the modern workplace, such as AI prompting, particularly for content generation. Prompt engineering should be precise with plenty of detail, defining tone, audience, context and examples of what is good. Like anything, you get what you put into it. Ensure you invest in the time and expertise to skill up your employees.
Gartner predicts that 80% of all creative roles will need to integrate generative AI into their work processes over the next few years. So, skilling up and setting guidelines and guardrails is essential to protect your brand. Asana reported that only 13% of organizations have developed and shared AI guidelines with their employees.
Guidelines and guardrails also protect companies’ data, ensuring they meet compliance and regulations, and the data is secure. By putting these in place, you enforce what they use in AI and what they can’t, therefore not exposing sensitive and confidential data to the likes of ChatGPT and other large language models.
Generative AI enables people to produce content in seconds. However, caution must be applied so employees don’t have free rein to churn out generic content that compromises your tone of voice and quality, which could potentially damage your brand.
Devise a process so AI-generated content is proofed to check your tone of voice, key messages, fact checking, screening for bias and transparency, and to add the human touch. This will stop employees from having free rein using AI and the danger of sounding generic and losing your voice, which can harm your brand.
The Power of Humans
Soft skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and empathy, are becoming increasingly important in the workplace today. A recent report from Microsoft revealed that 48% of employees said AI has increased the need for skills such as problem-solving (39%), critical thinking (385%), and analytical thinking (37%) as the most crucial.
AI can streamline processes and analyze data in seconds, but it does not have human experience, nuance, emotional intelligence, or the ability to connect and form relationships. This is why AI cannot replace humans, but when AI and humans work together, that is a powerful force.
Employees who understand the why, when and where of AI will become AI fluent, using their abilities to work with AI to speed up and streamline processes. By following the guidelines and guardrails, they can use their judgment and editing skills to ensure content is on brand and original.
Shadow IT & Cyber Security
Employees who download AI apps for work that the company does not authorize are known as ‘shadow IT’ putting the company at risk from cyber-attacks which are increasing by the day. It use to about “bring your own device’ and now it is ‘bring your own AI assistant’ Instructing what AI apps can and can’t be used will reduce your risk of cybercrime and protect your network.
AI has escalated cyber-crime, but it can also combat it by detecting anomalies in real-time on your network. Often resolving issues before they even arise.
Reducing the Fear
AI is not new; it has been around for a long time, but over the past two years, it has accelerated into the different ways we can use it in our personal and work lives. The word AI makes employees nervous because they think it going to replace their jobs. CEOs and senior management are anxious because they know they need it but are not sure why. IT Directors, CIOs etc are nervous because they are scared it may fail and put their jobs on the line.
But by embracing the ‘why’ and devising a strategy, the people mentioned should feel more confident as risks are mitigated. No one likes change, even if it’s for the better. Learning how to use technology and new ways of working takes time, but the benefits and ROI are worth it.
Why Not?
The time to invest in AI is now, but remember it is not a race and it is advisable to invest in your time to devise a strategy, set objectives and a success criteria. Discover why you need it and what problems you want to solve and by working through this methodology you will set yourself up for success.
When you reap the benefits of an improved customer experience, streamlining process, saving time and increasing productivity. The only question you will be asking is – why didn’t we do this sooner?
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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
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