The Artificial Intelligence Paradox: How Automation Unleashes Human Potential
Those who worry that automation will upend our lives forget that we already live in a world that has largely become automated. When was the last time you visited a teller at the bank to withdraw money? Is there anyone left who sends handwritten letters to friends and relatives living in different parts of the world? Who goes from hotel to hotel looking for a room when arriving in a new city? Automation has affected, changed and upended our lives at all these points in ways we could not have imagined even sooner than we predicted.
On the other hand, automation is not a new concept. Elisha Graves Otis, the inventor of the elevator, brought automation into our lives in 1857 with the first elevator system that brought people and machines side by side through a coordinated process involving specific tasks, moving up and down and stopping at specific points. Therefore, 'automation' is not new, it has only become more complex and widespread. This introduced us to a world in which artificial intelligence writes news articles and film scripts, performs physical tasks under conditions humans cannot endure, and helps people achieve levels of success previously considered impossible.
Of course, it is certain that automation will affect our daily lives even more visibly in the coming days. A recent study by Dell Technologies, where I serve as senior vice president for MERAT, found that 83 percent of company leaders in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates anticipate spending their time differently thanks to automation. Imagine the potential that arises when a company gives its managers the chance to reclaim part of their time and spend it on planning, developing talent or building relationships. In that case, you could say it is time to act, but the truth is, we are all at the very beginning of this journey. First, business processes and the customer experience need to be transformed.
Disruption Is Driving Positive Change Across Sectors
Take the banking sector as an example. We have moved from the multi-purpose face of the bank that can be located in different places, the ATM, to internet banking, and now to mobile applications. These days, when you call your bank, an artificial intelligence system will very likely guide you through the most common transactions and information requests, transferring you to a customer representative only when you have unusual and complex requests.
We see the same change in the healthcare sector. Until a few years ago, telemedicine had taken an important place on the agenda, because growing bandwidth enabled doctors in the city to communicate with patients in rural areas via high-definition video conferences and to provide prescriptions and care instructions to local healthcare teams. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence, healthcare organizations can match patients with the right doctor and even automate some basic diagnoses so that the doctor is only involved in important cases.
Supporting Tomorrow's Workforce
Machines and artificial intelligence are not aiming to take our jobs from us but to help us work better and perform at a higher level. I am very excited about the emergence of solutions such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which automate repetitive tasks and free people to focus on higher-value work. When used effectively, RPA eliminates the monotony of work life, meeting a demand that has existed since formal work environments emerged, and also sets the direction of the journey toward what we at Dell Technologies see as the 'Connected Reality' of the future. In this future, with experiences designed to be more realistic and to boost efficiency, cyberspace will always be an active layer over our current reality. This transition can be compared to the screen evolution we have witnessed throughout our lives, from static televisions to responsive computers to interactive smartphones.
Imagine the impact that an empowered and supported workforce can have on your customer experience. A well-defined and well-designed automated interactive solution allows your customer to obtain information and be guided whenever and however they want, without being limited by working hours and employee availability. Because these interactions are designed with the most typical examples in mind, it is easy to account for the inflection points at which the interaction will need to be flagged for human intervention. Moreover, according to our research, this factor will become customers' primary expectation in 2030, as today's digital cities will turn into responsive cities where AI-powered analytics will manage the infrastructure and the citizenship experience of every connected individual.
This is why, depending on whom you ask, you will get the answer that data is the new oil, the new gold or the new moon dust. On the other hand, you cannot really say that many questions are being asked about the value of data. Yet if artificial intelligence is a spaceship, its fuel is data. The insights revealed by a well-managed data analysis program are at the very heart of ensuring that an AI-powered automation strategy is high-quality, appropriate and effective.
Preparing the Ground for the Digital Future
Every conversation about user and customer experience is ultimately about the technology at its center. Investing in the automation project and human-machine partnerships is as sound a business strategy from the employer's perspective as it is from the customer's. And the best part of this strategy is that it is not about identifying the right resource (human or digital) for the job. The strategy is about the tremendous potential of AI obtained through big data analysis that the 'machine' can offer humans and that can enable people to perform at a much higher level.
As with all important technology transitions, transformation is not a destination but a journey that never ends. However, there are three things to keep in mind as an organization embarks on its human-machine partnership journey:
Define strategic outcomes. This process is not only about the technology infrastructure but also about finding the right partner to consult on possible risks and the steps to be taken for a successful artificial intelligence journey.
Build the framework. Technology components do not form a solution on their own. The same technology infrastructure can serve different purposes at two different organizations. What must be remembered is that you are not buying a solution, you are building a framework for the solution to work.
Grow organically. In the early stages, missteps will be made and lessons will be learned, but after these are behind you, you will find successful models that can be replicated in other contexts as well. After the mindset is built internally, the next step is market dominance.
There is no doubt that technology has changed the way we work, live and play, and this will only become more pronounced in the future. We must marvel at the power and potential of technology to change our lives for the better and help us go beyond inefficiencies to reach an inclusive level of prosperity. Many organizations around the world are taking steps in their own contexts to adapt and adopt the most promising new technologies to secure their future. A new chapter in the progress humanity will make under the guidance of technology stands before us, waiting to be opened.
HBR Turkey - Technology
