How will work change because of AI?
It is crucial for companies to understand the different schools of thought emerging around how widespread adoption of new technologies will transform the workplace. Understanding these perspectives can also help anticipate how competitors might begin reshaping their own workforce.
Today, there appear to be five main schools of thought on the subject:
- Dystopians: Humans and machines will eventually come into conflict, and the latter will prevail.
- Utopians: Machines will replace humans in an increasing number of jobs, leading to unprecedented levels of economic prosperity and wealth.
- Tech optimists: Productivity is already increasing due to technological adoption in businesses, though it remains difficult to measure.
- Productivity skeptics: Despite AI’s vast potential, productivity gains will remain marginal.
- Realistic optimists: Intelligent technologies will boost productivity similarly to previous waves of innovation.
Although experts in the field hold different views, the truth is that no one currently has a definitive answer. As in many other technological revolutions throughout history, only time will tell the true story of AI.
Most agree, however, that to gain a competitive advantage through these technologies, managers and entrepreneurs must:
- Use AI to reinvent operational models and enhance employee skills.
- Take the opportunity to rethink the organization’s structure, potentially redefining roles, responsibilities, and required professional profiles.
- Engage employees throughout the transition, making them active partners in building an intelligent organization.
Collaborative intelligence. Humans and machines joining forces
In many business contexts, AI is already having a significant impact, and organizations are realizing that this technology can enhance performance, especially when used to complement human capabilities rather than replace them.
To gain a lasting advantage, managers and entrepreneurs must fully understand how humans and machines can work together—and how business processes must be redesigned to support this collaboration.
Employees involved in this transformation will be tasked with three key responsibilities:
- Teaching machines how to perform specific tasks.
- Explaining how to interpret the outcomes of those tasks.
- Leveraging AI’s potential responsibly.
Intelligent machines can amplify human cognitive (and, in some cases, physical) abilities. Within organizations, this allows employees to dedicate less time to repetitive, routine work and more to higher-value activities.
Companies should, therefore, reimagine their business processes by leveraging AI to achieve greater operational flexibility, speed, scalability, improved decision-making, and increased personalization of products and services.
It is crucial to clearly define the main goals of this transformation, design an effective human–machine collaboration model to reach them, and identify potential trade-offs with existing processes that will need to be reviewed or adapted.
