Let’s Not Forget About Humans.

June 23, 2023

Often when you consider the benefits and risks of applying and utilizing AI, it is all about this innovative technology and how it can bring us to another level of automation in our work and daily lives.  

But one thing we cannot forget is that AI is nowhere near a level of maturity to replace the “human touch” or in fact humans. AI cannot be “empathic” even though it might try to be. AI’s knowledge base is never complete with daily institutional, expert, and senior employee learnings and experience from performing still manual tasks. AI must have human organizations update it with new actual outcomes to refine its predictive capabilities.  

So, how can it not have the need for us to be around to add to its factual knowledge and actual experience, correct its errors, and teach it other new things to do for us?  

AI needs humans to survive and grow. Besides, Humans need to be present to know when an AI gives us the wrong answer! 

Recently in completing a client inquiry we were documenting how AI business cases can be “self-funding” – particularly where we are developing an AI-driven solution for automating a high volume, mostly manual operation with dozens of FTEs waiting to be replaced by this new AI-driven solution. The business case “math” does work in this type of operational circumstance within certain parameters and scope of course. 

Additionally, there were other areas where more experienced workers could be replaced - if we could “codify” their job experience, knowledge, and judgment from years of reviewing and approving complex business transactions. Then, could not these higher paid more senior members of the workforce also be replaced by the AI-driven solution? 

Then we had to step back and remember that AI is still totally dependent on us humans. Whether the business case can be self-funding or not, there is still much to learn about applying AI in high volume transaction settings whether under automated or not automated at all. We suggest that we need to keep ourselves in “creative” check as we conceptualize, design, develop and implement AI-driven solutions that replace the front-line workforce – and have access to our accumulated experience in our jobs or professions. However, let us remember that AI is creating new types of jobs, new senior roles, and in time new C-Suite title positions. 

We will be the ones to give AI solutions our “experience” to utilize and then keep adding to it, correcting it when its transaction processing conditions and rules are incorrect, or its tolerances and predictions are wrong or only ‘half-right’. To expand its use, we will have to expand its factual knowledge and give it even broader or deeper experience to apply. 

AI is in its “infancy”. So, we need not worry about being replaced by a machine soon. And from what we are seeing in AI application solutions that must contain a knowledge base of ever-growing experience to be relied upon even more – it is still dependent upon us humans for “continuous learning”. There you have it! 

If you’d like to discuss our perspectives, our responses to the above questions for your organization, and our approach to strategic Enterprise AI, please contact us using the form below or at [email protected].