The hype generated by generative AI is unparalleled — even in the fast-moving world of technology. To put that in perspective, McKinsey experts estimate that generative AI alone could create between $2.6tn to $4.4tn of economic value annually across sectors including banking and life sciences.
Chat GPT, one of the most famous examples of generative AI, reached 100 million users just two months after its launch and has grown to over a billion users by most estimates. Multiple recent studies, along with a framework for assessing the impact of automation on work, as outlined in Reinventing Jobs (HBR Press, 2018), demonstrate the significant potential benefits that can be achieved using RPA implementation and the four generations of AI currently available to us: rule-based systems, machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI.
Generative AI is Changing Jobs
In order to understand generative AI’s implications for work, we need to recognize what it means to work differently than previous generations of AI. The next section clarifies the key differences. AI’s improved prediction abilities have transformed industries, but now Generative AI is changing the landscape again. While generative AI has shown possibilities for creative exploration, we are interested in harnessing it for innovation and meaningful outcomes.
The Generative AI Hype
On assignments such as transaction-processing work, the focus must be on minimizing variance and achieving a target level of performance. There’s no need to go above and beyond in these types of tasks if they are completed accurately and efficiently.
Enhancing efficiency in a salesperson’s work can lead to a proportional increase in the value brought to the organization.
Consider innovative tasks, like data analysis, where even a slight enhancement in efficiency can significantly enhance its worth.
When assessing the tasks needing reduced, variability and more significant acceptance of risk, many current automation solutions can replace human labor with machine labor very efficiently, particularly with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) that replaces many tasks that are repetitive and rules-based, such as analyzing and synthesizing financial data – and RPA can do it faster than humans. In the past, AI has been used to value-add for analytical work efforts, which resulted in productivity improvements and breakthroughs.
Let’s look at an inspiring example of oncologists who increased the accuracy of cancer detection with a little help from machine learning. This is not a substitution for their ability, it is an enhancement – and it will still showcase their ability! Now think about generative AI. While it has great potential, improving it for less error is a complex process. We see some occasional creative mistakes that indicate there will still be a need for human interpretation – and that adds the most value. Generative AI has great potential and practical applications in many fields.
Leaders must understand when and where to rely on something other than various technologies and what specific role they should play in either substituting, augmenting, or transforming human work. Generative AI is an excellent tool for democratizing knowledge and creativity through augmentation, which can help reduce the skills premiums traditionally required for various creative tasks. This technology can be beneficial for boosting productivity in domains where the risk tolerance is higher. From copywriting to call center operations, generative AI has already demonstrated significant value in increasing productivity, especially for less experienced talent.
Check out our eBook on smart hiring tools to learn more about how Generative AI is changing the way companies find and hire people.
It’s fascinating to consider how democratization of access could potentially reduce the inequality we’ve seen in the past two industrial revolutions.
As AI is progressively making creativity less exclusive and more widely available, it is important to consider how we can seriously and deliberately alter our business model and talent strategy to leverage AI. This is an exciting time to think about our future of work and how we can use artificial intelligence to move society to a more equitable and productive place.
