Editorial
The Gist
- Game changer. Generative AI deemed more impactful than the internet and cloud computing.
- Business shift. The real advantage lies in rethinking business models, not just automating tasks.
- Ethical dilemmas. Data quality and societal impact pose immediate risks; guardrails needed.
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — At this year’s Constellation Research Connected Enterprise, many technology and social changes were discussed, but without question generative AI ran away with the show. Being a little skeptical about generative AI’s immediate impact, I asked several presenters and attendees about their thoughts.
To my surprise, the consensus was clear — this is a really big deal. However, the most compelling response came from a seasoned executive at one of the world's largest global systems integrators.
“Myles, when the history of this age is written, generative AI will go down as bigger than cloud computing and as big or bigger than the Internet. We have been working on it for three years, but ChatGPT lit the fuse for us and our customers. Just about every large company is implementing solutions today, but will not admit to it for fear that they will lose the business advantage it is already delivering.”
Related Article: How to Pick the Right Flavor of Generative AI
Boardroom Mandates Drive Generative AI as Catalyst for Business Transformation
Dion Hinchcliffe, VP and research analyst at Constellation Research, shared with the audience that boards are demanding CDOs and CIOs put AI close to the business. Generative AI is about business competitive advantage. And without question, ChatGPT was “the shot heard around the world.”
Clearly, many organizations have tried to scope where generative AI will lead to business advantage, but I heard repeatedly that the advantage will not come from simply from bolting generative AI onto an existing platform. Instead, it will come from rethinking organizational business models. Its value will come from the organizations being able to be able to do something new. In other words, generative AI is about business transformation. For this reason, there was criticism with the work McKinsey had done on defining 63 use cases for generative AI and the total addressable market.
Related Article: A Game Plan for Generative AI in Customer Experience & Marketing
Generative AI: The Game-Changer in Customer Experience and Workforce Transformation
Sanjib Sahoo, EVP and CDO of Igram Micro, shared in his talk that “Seventy-seven percent of devices are already using AI in some form.” He and others shared that generative AI makes experiences more accessible because at its core, it empowers customer experience. On the positive side for CMOs, it is making everybody a content generator.
Simultaneously, the conference emphasized that generative AI will revolutionize work and boost productivity. According to Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School professor, “The introduction of sophisticated generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, promises to supercharge human talent.”
Presenters at the Constellation Research Connected Enterprise conference indicated that generative AI will permanently alter the types of jobs we pursue and how we perform them. Contrary to being a job killer, the sentiment was that it's more of a job transformer.
To truly leverage generative AI, Sahoo advises, "Smart organizations think about experiences first not automation because automation — a historical IT focus — leads to the wrong results." Because of this, presenters contended that a mindset shift is necessary for organizations diving into generative AI. While this technology can certainly cut costs and improve efficiency, the focus should be on how it can transform business models. This may require a significant change in mindset. For some, it might even mean thinking more like a venture capitalist, envisioning where the business could see 100- or 1,000-fold improvements.
Related Article: Unveiling the Past and Future of Generative AI
Navigating the Ethical Minefield of Generative AI Risks
Presenters emphasized that generative AI comes with risks. Beyond the potential job losses for content marketers and coders, data quality poses another concern. It's clear that generative AI requires "industrialized data" to function effectively. Additionally, there were ethical concerns about the technology's impact on humanity's future, underscored by the observation that society has yet to solve the problems arising from social media.
Speakers expressed concerns about scenarios similar to the movie "Her," where generative AI could lead to loneliness by replacing human interaction with avatars. Further discussions questioned whether generative AI might even affect children's cognitive abilities. However, having experienced the transition from slide rules to calculators to computers, I believe we're already on a path where technology may influence our intuitive skills.
AI has the potential to lead organizations astray, and, as one speaker pointed out, you can't exactly fire AI. There is also a considerable risk of misinformation. A notable historical example involved carrots and night vision during World War II. The British government spread the false idea that their pilots were more effective at night because they were fed carrots, obscuring the true advantage of radar technology. The misinformation was so compelling that it was widely believed for years afterward.
Today, according to Sinan Aral in "The Hype Machine," "false news spreads significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth — sometimes by an order of magnitude. While the truth rarely diffused to more than 1,000 people, the top 1 percent of false news cascades routinely diffused to as many as 100,000 people."
Speakers indicated that implementing guardrails and strategic intentions could mitigate risks. One area needing maturity is privacy and trust. Concepts like "privacy by design" must be considered immediately. Regrettably, this was the least developed topic discussed, yet it presents the most immediate risk for those implementing generative AI.
Debunking AI Fears: Futurists Offer Optimistic Outlook on Synthetic Intelligence
Futurists Byron Reese, CEO of JJ Kent, and Richie Etwaru, chief creative officer of Mobeus, aimed to alleviate audience concerns about the risks associated with generative AI.
Reese argued that organic intelligence is fundamentally different from synthetic intelligence, which he believes is still far from realization. He also presented intriguing concepts, asserting that all life on Earth is closely related. For instance, humans share more in common with bananas than one might think — a sentiment that resonated with me, given that I consume two to three bananas a week.
He continued to explore the relationship between intelligence and storage mediums, describing DNA as the initial advanced storage device, further evolved by brains, language and writing. He suggested that writing has accelerated genetic mutations among humans, a process that has expanded with the digital organization of data using 1s and 0s and the advent of the internet. Contrary to popular belief, he argued that general AI exists only in movies, as we have yet to figure out how to construct it. He also posited that Language Models are inefficient storage mechanisms. Kent concluded by discussing the concept of Agora and the idea of collective advancement, something he believes will not occur for machines.
Etwaru noted that perspectives on AI range from alarmist to evangelist. However, he acknowledged that AI remains a "black box" that needs clarification. "We need to be able to explain how it works," he stated. Echoing Bob Muglia, author of "Datapreneurs," Etwaru believes humans will coexist with machines. He added that this coexistence will have a compounding effect on all previous human advancements.
The Generative AI Era: A Call for Oversight and Skill Adaptation
We are undoubtedly entering the era of generative AI — a transformative technology that is both massive and real. Like any technology, it has the potential for both good and harm. This underscores the need for careful oversight, especially concerning its applications in sensitive areas like nuclear capabilities.
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Concurrently, it's crucial to consider the technology's impact on skills and talent. We must identify what skills will be needed and what will become obsolete, and how the reconfiguration of jobs could lead to more meaningful work. This is particularly relevant for Millennials and Generation Z, who are likely to feel the most significant impact. Now is the time to prepare them.
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