Artificial intelligence has always been something we think of as futuristic. The stuff of movies. Far-fetched in the real world. However, they’re much closer than we realize. Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Echo, and Microsoft’s Cortana are changing the way we interact with technology. Businesses are taking notice of the potential for artificial intelligence opportunities in the workplace. In an article by BBC, the use of AI and its inevitable adoption is discussed. The article goes on to also discuss some of the foreseen issues and benefits.
Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence
Primarily used in the customer service segment, companies are finding ways to deploy chatbots in sales, promotion, intelligent Q&A, and automated recruitment, with most of the impact hitting administrative and routine white-collar office functions. Chatbots, are one of the pioneering uses of artificial intelligence. However, it’s developing more and more.
One company, x.ai, has rolled out an artificial intelligence assistant to handle calendar functions for busy professionals. Aptly named Amy Ingram (note her initials), she handles your schedule. She deals with the logistics of time and location of meetings. If there are cancellations or conflicts, she navigates those as well, saving busy professionals hours they can use for more important things. Some of the professionals Amy assists say she’s so life-like that she often gets asked if she’s attending the meetings she sets up.
Artificial Intelligence and Other Uses
Marketers are taking advantage of chatbots, too, simulating written or spoken text to deliver personalized interactions online. These pieces of software have the potential to participate in many routine and programmable activities around the office, making digital coworkers not only possible but highly efficient in the workplace. Talla is poised to become the digital HR tool of the future, using algorithms to search through employment sites like LinkedIn to recruit new talent, generate targeted interview questions, and improve the hiring process to save companies both time and money.
There are, however, drawbacks to using artificial intelligence in the office. They can be buggy, using embarrassing autocorrect mistakes, failing to understand questions, or providing frustratingly inaccurate data results. Aside from these issues, the chatbots also learn personal information about their users, raising privacy and security concerns. The devices are always listening to your voice to activate them. This raises questions about security risks and industrial espionage.
Artificial Intelligence and the Future
Perhaps such things are the stuff of spy novels. However, there are other, less cloak-and-dagger issues, such as bots accidentally ordering expensive items without safeguards in place to prevent them, or responding to voices coming through the speakers of a TV or radio. Maybe in the workplace, responding to TV or radio voices would be less of an issue, but if a debate about upgrading computers for your employees results in a mistaken order of thirty new laptops without management approval, it’s a problem worth being aware of beforehand. Many IT departments suggest vetting any artificial intelligence assistants before they’re adopted in the workplace.
The global workforce is changing, and artificial intelligence is at the forefront of it all. Because of this, it is taking on the routine and mundane tasks. Tasks that waste time and lower the productivity of humans in business. We’re a long way off from robots taking our jobs. However, not so far away from robots making our jobs easier. That way we can concentrate on more efficient and impactful ways of doing business. Just ask Amy Ingram.
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