Time To Take The Low Expectations Out Of GenAI

Employees want AI to amplify their skills getty Generative AI is not conventional automation — swapping out a human being for software — and should…

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Generative AI is not conventional automation — swapping out a human being for software — and should not be treated as such. It would be a waste of time and effort, not to mention an example of low expectations, to pitch genAI as a means to simply automate tasks. Rather, it goes far beyond this role and needs to be looked at as the transformative force it can be that amplifies, not replaces, human work.

Unfortunately, business leaders tend to look at genAI and AI in general as a cheaper way to get things done. Their employees, on the other hand, see something different happening, an analysis published by Accenture relates. Ask employers and employees exactly how AI transformation happens, or what the results will be, “and it quickly becomes clear we are caught in a stare down,” the report’s authors, led by Accenture CTO Karthik Narain, state.

The key is to put people in charge of the direction AI will take with their jobs. Most see the role generative AI can play in assisting and amplifying their work — it can lead to job satisfaction, and career-advancement opportunities.

Generative AI, by its very nature, “is inherently a learning technology. It can enhance and advance its skills over time, ultimately improving its value to the individual using it and to the organization as a whole,” Narain and his co-authors state. “In other words, the more people use it, the better it gets, and then the more people want to use it.”

Their employers, on the other hand, tend to take a narrower view of AI as the route to greater automation. “It’s a situation brewing uncertainty and distrust, and risks holding back the technology’s adoption and potential,” the Accenture team states.