In 1950, Alan Turing published a landmark article on the possibility of intelligence in machines. Considered today as one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, he also developed the test that bears his name to evaluate the behavior of intelligent computers and determine whether they’ve attained human intelligence or not.
Sixty-seven years later, the concept of Artificial Intelligence is well established. It concerns a field of computer science where we practice modeling and then programming in order to imitate the intellectual capacities and mental processes of human beings: capacities of understanding, reasoning, deduction, analysis, etc. All of these processes are immensely valuable to businesses and society at large, and this is why AI is becoming a field of study that is not only preoccupying the business world but the governments and populations of the world at large.
The AI is Coming to Businesses in Full Force
The concept of AI has remained the business of specialists, mathematicians, computer scientists, logisticians, and roboticists for decades, but now it is arriving in full force to the business world, and it is causing disruptions in traditional operational and managerial principles! How is this happening? In two ways: first by assisting humans in their analysis and decision-making and, therefore, helping humans become more specialized, and secondly, by replacing humans and automating various tasks.
For the past year, one of the largest American law firms has “hired” an AI named Ross, based on Watson, IBM’s AI engine. The program is said to be able to provide the most relevant answers to the questions lawyers ask in natural human language by searching through thousands of legal documents it has stored in its memory. This is something unimaginable just a decade ago, and the algorithm is moving day by day.
AI Assistants
Artificially intelligent assistants are at the doors of bank branches, pharmaceutical laboratories, and financial consulting firms. The phenomenon potentially affects all professions in which the exploitation and analysis of very large volumes of documents or information play an important role.
Faced with these employees boosted by AI in their analysis and decision-making processes, business managers must review their business plans and decisions. If AI programs can already perform all the work of an assistant from recording questions to answering them, then their teams must be able to refocus on tasks with higher added value, which require creativity, high-order reasoning, or diversified expertise, all of which AI is incapable of replicating at the moment.
How To Keep Data Scientists In Your Company
Because data scientists have highly sought-after talents, it puts companies in competition with each other: retaining them is a real challenge. Beware of overly pyramidal organizations and overly procedural or directive managers: imposing shackles on brilliant, critical, and creative minds is bound to drive them away.
You need the right managers for your company: managers who give meaning to your employees’ tasks, encourage them, listen to their ideas, and follow their advice. More than leaders, these new managers must be true coaches, stimulating, but also communicative and unifying – because, among the new talents needed in tech companies, there is a significant percentage of loners and even misanthropists.
Robots That Integrate Teams, Even Boards Of Directors!
Another impact of the irruption of AI in companies is the pure and simple replacement of some employees by an AI program. In some hotels, the functions of doorman, reception, or room attendant are already performed by intelligent humanoid robots.
It doesn’t stop at hotel jobs though. The algorithms used in some recruitment agencies are considered better than human beings because they are more factual and more objective and aren’t constrained by human emotions and subjectivities.
For managers and business owners, the challenge is first to reassure their employees that they will have AI as colleagues. Job descriptions will have to evolve considerably and give more importance to technical knowledge and tech know-how. AI might be in its infancy now, but most workplaces will have an operational AI in decades, and you can get on the train before others by using deep learning consulting services.
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