Not Necessarily Better

Those who have little experience of using AI tools, expect that, if they did, they would become more efficient, more productive and, in effect, smarter (or at least they would appear smarter to others).  Yet how often do you see others that have become all of these things.  Are playwrights producing better (?) plays; are  doctors making better diagnoses and issuing more effective prescriptions; are architects making better buildings?

Perhaps some are … but there is no obvious revolution of outputs and outcomes following the use of AI.  

This does not mean that AI is useless or ineffective.  It can help with tasks, with workflow, with efficiency … but we must not expect too much.   A lot of experience suggests that the 'I' of AI is perhaps too strong a word - much of what AI produces is not very intelligent - and even where it is, it is because the users are intelligent, analytical and capable of giving the right prompts or asking the right questions.

So, by all means, carry on using your AI tools and services.  They will get better over time and become more effective . But don't expect too mush.  Moderate your expectations. Don't believe the hype.  And continue to hire intelligent staff and develop their skills. 

Intelligent people using AI is the most likely route to success.

Why AI might fail you

 of people, and organisations, are looking to AI to give them a productivity boost.

Of course it might do so by improving the speed,  accuracy or value of specific processes or transactions.

However, those of you who read this blog regularly will know that I often warn about using any technology to speed up what you are doing - if you are doing the wrong things.  There is little point if you have processes that lose you money, in increasing the rate at which you complete those processes and lose the money.

So, those organisations that benefit from adopting AI will be those that already have efficient and effective systems and processes in place, based on 'good' data.

If you are not sure this applies to you… pause, reflect, check, improve and ensure you do meet this requirement before using AI to help you.

Use your own intelligence before adding the artificial kind.

Get Ready For The Future

 he exhortation above is not meant for my 'normal' readers (assuming some of you are normal) but for the politicians who face some big choices and decisions over the next few years.

We have heard a lot over the last 20 years about the threat of automation to jobs (especially manual jobs).  Now we have the added threat of artificial intelligence (AI) which poses a similar risk to a much larger range of jobs.

If there are no jobs, there is no income tax…so how do governments fund the range of services they will still have to provide.

Of course there are other ways of providing incomes (universal basic wage, anyone?) and of raising taxes but where is the great debate that should be helping to form views on the various options.

If we do nothing, we will be left with a few (or perhaps a few hundred) 'tech bros' with vast wealth and the vast majority on (or in )the bread line.

I am of an age where this has little direct relevance to me but I am concerned for my grandchild - and the kind of world he is inheriting.

So some on guys (and gals).  Start the discussion. Make it open and clear, and start to build a legal and regulatory framework fit for this strange, new world (and when I say 'strange', I mean 'different').

The time to do this is NOW.

Try Harder

 Many years ago when at business school, I studied a case study of Avis (the car rental company) and how they had grown rapidly to boom Number 2 in the  business.The key to their success seemed to have between their willingness to give a degree of freedom to customer-facing staff to make decisions and take actions that would pleases, or delight, those customers.   AVIS' repeat business went up - as did their profits. Then even celebrated the act that they were number 2 and not number 1 by adopting the slogan "We try harder" implying that this was because they were., as yet, 'only' number 2.

Such a decision (to grant staff freedom to please customers) obviously depends on the calibre of those staff and the training they receive - but it also depends on the culture of the organisation and he 'ability' of seniors executives to trust their employees to 'do the right thing'

So, take a look at your organisation and the various customer-facing transactions (including those involving internal customers).  Think about the 'freedoms' that might be granted and how they might increase customer satisfaction levels. (By all means also take hard-nosed look at the risks involved if those freedoms were misused.)

 Then look at your staff and assess how ready they might be to accept responsibility for using those freedoms wisely.

If none of this look likely to give positive results, think about, and think through, any changes that might change that.

Start to trust.  It will save you worry, stress and constant monitoring.  Everybody wins

AI Can Lie

We've seen reports that AI systems can 'hallucinate' at times …. they throw up information which they have generated rather than reported, and sometimes the generation is a little strange.

Now it may not surprise you to lean that AI can also lie - tell you things that can be proven to be untrue.

One problem is that some of the AI chatbots are designed to keep you engaged and in doing this, they provide you with information that they believe will interest and/or excite you.  If this is less than true, the chatbot doesn't really care - it has done its job of maintaining your engagement.

Perhaps a worse problem is that unscrupulous actors (and there are plenty of those around on the web) might 'seed' a chatbot with specific false information during its 'learning period' when it is scouring the web to gather information and make links..  The chatbot reports the false information to you in good faith (if a chatbot van be in good faith) and you believe it because your normally reliable chatbot has provided the information and you have no reason to doubt its veracity 

This is not a reason to stop using AI/chatbots orbto distrust what they tell you - but it is a reason to think about what you are being told and to run it through your own 'credibility filter.'

It a bit like when calculators first became widely available. People would do complex arithmetic and fails to notice they had made an error in 'say' putting the decimal point of an input figure in the wrong place.The resulting answer was correct - in terms of processing the figures input correctly - but would give a false answer .  This would possibly be recognised by someone who knew the context of the data but not by someone who did not.

So keep your brain engaged when using AI to help you - and keep your 'spurious answer detectors' active at all timed.  If you are doing complex work, do it slowly enough to input data correctly and to filter outputs.

Dob't search for excuses

Too many people, when asked about their performance - or lack of it - settle back on a range of excuses.  

"I don't have the right tools or equipment"

"The stuff I get from my colleagues needs correcting before I can make progress"

I get distracted by interruptions from others"

I can't control all the variables that affect my work"

Often, these can be valid reasons for less than optimal performance…. BUT…

Performing well is about doing the best you can in the circumstances you find yourself in.  You only have the skills you have acquired, the team members assigned to you, the environment in which you exist.  

People who are resilient make progress, not excuses!

They don't procrastinate; they don't double-handle; they don't wait for things to improve; they don't wait for something to happen.  They do whatever they can to move things forward.  

Of course, they may raise issues with their supervisors or managers … but they don't let this st op them from going forward.

So, what can we do to make our employees work in this positive way?

Well, the biggest single factor is possibly the alignment of individual and organisational values and targets.  If workers can understand the values behind the organisation's mission and strategy, and can see how these values 'chime'; with their personal values, they know what to do in a given situation and they are eager to help move the organisation forward.  

So, make sure you are clear in your own mind as to what your values are; make sure those values are communicated throughout the organisation; and make sure all decisions and actions taken are inspired and informed by those values.  

Don't write a strategy or plan and then' dress it up' to look as though it reflects shared values.

The approach should be …

"Because we believe this, we will do this."

An Exdercise in Improving Your Personal Productivity

 any of use exercise on a fairly regular basis - perhaps weekly or even daily.  We know this makes us feel better. What we have not perhaps understood until recent times is the improvement in mental well-being from regular physical exercise - but medical evidence seems to e fairly clear on this

Some people and some forward-thinking firms have taken this evidence - and the associated inherent confirmation by those carrying out regular exercise - and used it in the workplace - by building in regular, short exercise breaks into the daily routine.

These breaks - which some refer to as 'exercise snacks' - can be very short and very simple - a brisk 3-minute walk ,a couple of 'chair exercises' or similar.  There is no need for a 45-minute gym session or a game of table tennis.  They help alleviate (and prevent) fatigue, improve blood flow and cardiovascular health, improve energy and help workers focus better on the task(s) in hand.  Of course in the longer-term ,they also help the fight against obesity and musclo-skeletal disrrders (and the associated aches and pains).

So, email less snd walk over to your colleagues' desks to take advantage of the 'free' exercise.  Place commonly used tools and aids on high shelves to make yourself stretch to access them.  These and similar 'breaks' will do some of the job- and can be added to with specific exercise snacks to build in a regular routine.  After a few months, if you keep up this routine, your mental and physic fitness will improve - as will your productivity.   All at zero cost.  What's not to like?