Between the Blurry Lines of Humanity and Machines

"Creativity is the power to act."

For long we either predicted, feared or embraced the idea of machine intelligence taking over the world. One where humans are no longer required to do work but rather enter into a process of elimination and replacement. We gradually progress to a stage where machines are increasingly accepted by us on a daily basis. Management and leadership is about people, and artificial intelligence is about machines. However, the lines between the two are becoming fuzzy.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a way of making a computer think intelligently in a manner aligned to think like humans. Machine learning, deep learning, robotics, computer vision, cognitive computing, artificial general intelligence, natural language processing and knowledge reasoning are just some aspects of artificial intelligence. AI has found its benefits in various sectors, especially under business and management. It is used in sales strategy, predictive analysis, security programs of organisations and automation of work processes.

As we know, management functions are consumer centric, it is essential to see that the consumers have started slowly accepting the use of AI in their homes. The use of Alexa, Siri and Google Home is making the technology convenient for the consumers.

One of the most prominent ways in which AI is currently being used is The Nest. The Nest is a learning thermostat uses behavioural algorithms to predictively learn your heating and cooling needs, thus anticipating and adjusting the temperature in one’s home or office on the basis of their personal needs.

The Nest was acquired by Google for $3.2 Billion. Car Companies are also collaborating with Google to develop AI into their systems so that they can listen to the commands of the driver, such as turning off the radio without the driver himself having to do so.

In October of 2018, Volkswagen and Microsoft announced a partnership, designed to transform the auto company into a digital service-driven business. By tapping the power of Azure IoT, PowerBI, and Skype, Volkswagen plans to offer customer experience, telematics, and productivity solutions for the automotive market. Volkswagen recognizes that customers need more than gimmicks to see the value in cloud-based AI solutions. That is why they intend to offer predictive maintenance and Over The AIr (OTA) software updates for their entire brand of vehicles.

Betterment, an Infitech automated financial investing platform and a pioneer of robo-advisor technology uses AI to learn about an investor and build a personalized profile based on his or her financial plans. Betterment's robo-advisors use algorithms to automate tax loss harvesting, trading, transactions and portfolio management.

Behind the scenes, in the management of a business, AI faces a lot of friction. Popular belief says that the use of machine intelligence shouldn’t replace humans as they can’t bring in the ethical and emotional quotient required to survive in today’s world. McKinsey Research finds that as much as one-third of the United States workforce could be out of a job by 2030 thanks to automation. The consulting firm now estimates that between 400 million and 800 million individuals globally could be displaced by automation and need to find new work.

But, great businessmen also see the wide potential behind the technology and admit to the fact that evolution is not an option, rather it should be taken into stride and used most efficiently. Mark Cuban, while expressing his opinion on artificial intelligence put forth a transforming point of view. "We are going through the process where software will automate software, automation will automate automation, knowing how to critically think and assess from a global perspective, I think, is going to be more valuable than what we see as exciting careers today which might be programming or CPA or those types of things."

Using artificial intelligence in business information can be a huge benefit. AI algorithms are already helping more businesses manage their data through deep analysis and plenty of specific industries are already benefitting from AI in their operations. Taking slower steps, AI can be used for administrative coordination and control tasks so that the managers can be occupied in more essential work. Recently, the data analytics company Tableau announced a partnership with Narrative Science, a Chicago-based provider of natural language generation tools. The result of the collaboration is Narratives for Tableau, a free Chrome extension that automatically creates written explanations for Tableau graphics.

Google announced Duplex, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that can handle customer service requests, such as booking an appointment or providing basic information. We’ve had automated phone attendants for years, but the new buzz is that customers can’t tell that this automated attendant isn’t human. The use of this can increase customer satisfaction, remove the hesitation in customers to ask questions they feel might be pointless or silly. Customer interaction can be more efficient and honest.

One essential function where managers seem to oppose the use of AI is decision making. It requires insight beyond AI and the use of knowledge (of the organisation history and culture) and ethics, intuition, experience and judgement. Strategy development, analysis and creative thinking are essentials of only human judgement require to succeed.

Fighting the main taboo, AI is highly beneficial as long as the management can increase acceptance amongst its employees and instill the thought that AI is not to be used as a replacement rather something that can enhance their performance by working side-by-side. Managers who view AI as a kind of colleague will recognise that there’s no need to “race against a machine.”

Maybe it is something that we fear, but it is also something that can push us to test our boundaries, to draw a new extent to which we can reach, to develop into something beyond the imagination of any intelligence.

“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.”

Vedangi Thakkar