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Scared of AI? It won’t replace humans

What you need to know:

  • Talking about Artificial Intelligence skills: coding, quantum computing, programming, technical knowledge, communication and emotional intelligence, design thinking, critical thinking. There are a number of in-demand skills required in the AI industry such as deep learning, reinforcement learning, computer vision, natural language processing

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems capable of performing complex tasks that historically only a human could do, such as reasoning, making decisions, or solving problems. In simple terms, computer science that designs machines advanced enough to perform tasks that in the past required human intelligence to achieve. 

AI won’t replace humans, but people who can use it will have an edge over those who cannot. If you don’t use AI, you are going to struggle since most roles will use some form of AI in the way that they act. Certainly, humans with AI will replace the humans without AI. However, it will augment existing roles, allowing companies to lean more on human capabilities, while automating the repetitive roles.

Talking about Artificial Intelligence skills: coding, quantum computing, programming, technical knowledge, communication and emotional intelligence, design thinking, critical thinking. There are a number of in-demand skills required in the AI industry such as deep learning, reinforcement learning, computer vision, natural language processing

AI is expected to improve industries like healthcare, manufacturing, banking, education and customer service, leading to higher-quality experiences for both workers and customers. However, it does face challenges like increased regulation, data protection, privacy concerns and worries over job losses.

Just as the internet has drastically lowered the cost of information transmission, AI will lower the cost of cognition. That’s according to Harvard Business School professor Karim Lakhani, who has been studying AI and machine learning in the workplace for years. As the public comes to expect companies that deliver seamless, AI-enhanced experiences and transactions, leaders need to embrace the technology, learn to harness its potential, and develop use cases for their businesses. “The places where you can apply it?” he says. “Well, where do you apply thinking?” 

In this second wave of machine learning, applications built by humans are learning from examples and using structured feedback to solve on their own problems. 

It starts with modelling using the available data. The good news is that you do not need tonnes of data to start with. Data is around us in various forms, excel, registers, ledgers etc. You may not need all that much data to start making productive use of machine learning.

Better to understand the data inputs, the expected outputs, and then the application or solution to be coined. Example, data about car locations, time and speed; gives the report for the traffic flow which gets used for traffic lights management. 

This could apply to applications in telemedicine, CRM, fraud detection, banking, facial recognition et al.

So the successful strategy is to be willing to experiment and learn quickly. If business leaders are not ramping up experiments in the area of machine learning, they aren’t doing their job. 

Over the next decade, AI won’t replace business leaders, but business leaders who use AI will replace those who don’t.

The benefits of AI include efficiency through task automation, data analysis for informed decisions, assistance in medical diagnosis, and the advancement of autonomous vehicles. The advantages range from streamlining, saving time, eliminating biases, and automating repetitive tasks, just to name a few.

As a matter of additional benefits, AI offers several benefits, including increased efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. 

It can automate routine tasks, optimise processes, and enable faster decision-making. AI can also provide insights and predictions based on data analysis, leading to better outcomes and results.

AI has risks. Some of the biggest risks today include things like consumer privacy, data protection, data integrity, biased programming, danger to humans, and unclear legal regulation. AI may have its own carbon footprint and negative environmental impact because it relies heavily on computing at data centres.

In conclusion, AI is not going to replace the need for a Second Brain anytime soon. Here’s why: no matter how powerful AI becomes, the data we put into it has to come from somewhere, and the AI’s outputs have to go somewhere, where the solutions or applications get crafted. 

Michael Jjingo,    General Manager Commercial Banking at Centenary Bank