Beyond the Buzzword: Putting AI to Work in the Real World
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We’ve all heard the hype: AI is here, and whoever and wherever you are, it’s going to rock your world. Actually, that’s not entirely hyperbole; AI does have tremendous potential to be an unprecedented change agent. But what’s really beyond that initial “wow” that we’re all waiting to see clearly defined?
There’s a case to be made for the idea that much of what the world is waiting for around AI is in fact already happening.
AI is making it possible to achieve much more, and to do it much more efficiently. Fortune 500 companies in a multitude of areas—finance, healthcare, automotive, retail, manufacturing and more—are proving it every day.
The strategic implementation of AI is helping these companies harness the power of data, enabling them to glean unprecedented insights into everything from what their customers want and need to how well they’re meeting those wants and needs—and to do it much faster than humanly possible. Literally. Working at a level of speed and efficiency humans can only imagine, AI is revolutionizing medical diagnostics, transforming financial trading, changing how entertainment content is created, and much more.
But what does this real-world experience mean—not only for the industry leaders that are living it, but also for the rest of the world—beyond the earliest implementations and successes? To answer that, it helps to look first at what the AI experience doesn’t mean. That’s because the rapid rise of AI has given rise to plenty of myths and misconceptions that must be put aside to move forward with making the most of AI’s potential.
“It’s Going to Do My Job!” “It’s Going to Steal My Job!” And Other AI Myths
There’s no shortage of misinformation about AI’s role in any company’s operations. And that’s a problem—because you can’t begin to understand exactly what AI is and what it can do until you’re clear about what it isn’t and what it can’t do.
Much of the misapprehension about AI seems to stem from a misunderstanding about what “intelligence” actually means. So, to be clear: No, AI can’t think or learn on its own, without human intervention. It’s not able to reason independently or be self-sufficient. You can’t set it and forget it. (And, to make a related point, it’s not infallible; left to its own devices, without human supervision, it can get things wrong. Remember the lawyer who got in very public hot water for citing AI-generated fake judicial opinions and legal citations?)
AI requires human expertise to ensure the data it’s working with is good data, and to make sure the conclusions it’s reaching are reasonable conclusions.
Together, We Can Do Great Things With AI
We talked about AI doing things faster than humanly possible—but “faster than humans” doesn’t mean “without human intervention.” Take this article that you’re reading right now: AI didn’t write it; it just enabled the human who wrote it to research, assess, analyze, and draw conclusions about the topic faster than any human could possibly do without AI assistance. AI analyzed a host of available data and spewed out the results in seconds.
That amount of work would have taken a person much, much longer to complete—hours, at least. Maybe even days. And that’s just for a blog post. At least one source of guidance for writing in-depth academic papers lays out a nine-step process, of which the first six steps all involve a significant amount of research that must be completed before the writing even begins.
Apply this idea more broadly and you can see the overarching value of AI’s lightning speed in business. AI can, for example, near-instantly analyze data collected about customer needs and preferences, surfacing trends and insights that humans can then apply to their efforts in everything from marketing to product ideation to customer service.
It’s Not Magic. It’s Better.
Depending on the context, AI can be any of a number of things: machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and more—including generative AI, in which the technology generates new content like images, text and design. At that level, AI can go beyond data analysis and interpretation to actually create and innovate.
AI in all its forms is both a science and a discipline. It crunches data faster and more efficiently than was ever imaginable before AI came along, delivering more—and more meaningful—insights to the people it serves. It’s up to us as users of AI to make the most of it by making it part of a larger business strategy.
If You’re Ready to Harness the Power of AI, We’re Ready to Help.
What does it really mean to make AI part of a larger business strategy, though?
For starters, think of AI as standing for assessment and inventory—the first two steps to take as you consider how to strategically implement AI. That’s where it begins, with 1) assessing what you want to accomplish and what it’s going to take to get there and 2) inventorying the resources you have to fuel that effort. Only then can you begin to define objectives for AI projects that align with your business goals and strategy.
Simple? Yes. Easy? No—at least not without help. EX Squared can assist you in determining how to use AI strategically, by matching available AI tools to the specific challenges at hand. We can help you pursue a thoughtful, phased approach that’s fully aligned with your priorities and goals. As part of that, we’ll help you get clarity about how AI can help and what specific steps you’ll need to take to enable AI to be successful on your behalf.
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EX Squared is a creative technology agency that creates digital products for real human beings.