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Some of the major tech trends today that will transform the cultural and societal landscape over the next five years include autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, cybersecurity, drones, IoT, smart cities, smart homes, virtual reality – the list goes on. When you take a moment to think about what these trends have in common it’s pretty clear – they have applied artificial intelligence (AI) at their core.
It’s important to recognize that AI is more than simply the latest technology fad – it is creating a cultural shift across the business landscape. Many leaders have already recognized data is a key asset for their organization and must be managed and utilized to its full potential. AI is the secret weapon – allowing organizations to turn that data into smarter decisions.
In order to ensure organizations are using AI to its full potential, plan to incorporate AI into every aspect of an organization’s culture. It’s important to do it early, as it can take months to develop and fully implement AI systems. This often starts with educating leadership on the benefits of what modern AI can do and the ethical boundaries associated, so that there is a clear understanding on how to leverage the technology in a positive way and avoid abusing power. From there, leaders will be able to make more informed decisions on how AI can help solve business problems and demonstrate value, whether that be improving customer experience or reducing production costs. That’s when we really see how transformative AI can be.
To understand exactly how far the impact of AI goes beyond the business level, it’s helpful to look at the fastest growing companies over the last 10 years – companies like Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Uber, etc. – as they all have AI at the center of both their strategy and tactics. For example, Facebook’s goal is to connect every person on the planet through Facebook-owned tech within 100 years. And to get there, they’re making use of artificial intelligence for projects today — and tomorrow.
Facebook is just one example of a company who has successfully reaped the full advantages and transformative nature of AI through committing to continuous learning and not being afraid to adapt. AI isn’t a one and done implementation. Organizations need to patient with continuous learning and build a culture that isn’t afraid to adapt to the evolving needs of its customers and the changing market in order to generate growth in the years to come.
There always will be things that human beings can do better than AI, but AI technology will enable people to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Businesses who aren’t afraid to experiment and incorporate AI into not only their technology, but their culture early on will be in a better position to make smarter decisions and transform the business landscape as we know it today.