Time to take a long-view on artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is flavour of the month. It’s appearing everywhere, transforming workplaces and societies. Everyone is throwing the term around but few people are defining or contextualising it. AI, simply stated, is using computer and machine-based systems that employ complex mathematical algorithms to replicate and emulate human-like intelligence, behaviours and responses in products, services etc. We are in transition - we have all seen early AI in action: programs that auto-write text using a brief oral outline – for example Chat GPT; and, your mobile listening to what you are say and subsequently proposing products and services. It’s also running the logistics systems that deliver your on-line purchases. In business, as in general life, people are often seeking the Holy Grail or the ‘magic bullet’. Businesses are especially prone to fashion. While AI is undoubtedly important it is nevertheless also a fad with which we are currently pre-occupied. And, people are as scared as they are excited. AI feels like the Deus – ex- machina (the own separate spirit and identity/god in the machine). But, honestly, there is little business can do themselves except wait and adopt AI products. The resources required to pioneer and develop AI are vast and it will be the military-industrial complex that leads innovation - global tech-firms working with governments, military and especially national intelligence agencies. This is how the Internet emerged. So the message is clear: most firms will be ‘followers’. They do not have the resources to be able to innovate AI. We are all waiting to see what is developed and apply it to the business. However, let’s take a longer view. At the heart of AI is a tension – the human: technology interface. This is an age-old challenge. AI is at the forefront of the United Nations’ ‘Society 5.0’ – the current techo/human-centric industrial revolution transforming human experience. Déjà vu? Yes, Society 1.0 – hunter-gatherer; 2.0 – agricultural revolution; 3.0 Industrialisation (coal, steam and steel); 4.0 – Information (information technology). In other words, AI is just the next transition – albeit a pretty big one. We are in a period characterised by VUCA (volatility – uncertainty – complexity – ambiguity). How do we respond to this and this phase of AI? As we are forced-adopters waiting in the wings we must: be agile – to deal with volatility; become excellent information collectors - to remove uncertainty; be able to adapt/restructure swiftly – to address complexity; experiment in controlled limited ways to relearn the new ‘rules of the game’ – to cope with ambiguity.