Written for MYOB’s “Future Workforce” series on BBC Future
While you’ve often thought Steve from finance could be a robot, he probably isn’t.
Scientists are yet to teach robots how to walk like people, let alone imbue them with subtle feedback cues such as Steve’s bored expression whenever you tell him a joke.
That being said, in the not-too-distant future many of your colleagues could very well be some form of . They might not resemble the lifelike androids and cyborgs of science fiction films but they’re likely to become an integral part of your daily working life.
The World Economic Forum has predicted AI will be a key driver of change in employment trends over the next decade, with advancements in AI technology set to create millions of new jobs in software, engineering, design, support and training.
So how do businesses ensure their teams are ready to support their new AI employees, and what can we expect from our new robot colleagues as we begin working side-by-side?
It’s alive!
Philosophers and scientists have pondered the prospect of intelligent objects throughout human history, but the term ‘artificial intelligence’ was first coined at a landmark conference at Dartmouth University in 1956.
The pace of AI advancements and discovery in subsequent years led many leading researchers in the field to declare that a machine with full intelligence would be created within a generation.
Those initial estimates gave way to the reality that creating a machine rivalling human intelligence was a tall order and nearly 60 years after the first Dartmouth conference, scientists are still many years away from creating a machine that’s capable of learning and problem-solving the way people do.
That isn’t to say that artificial intelligence is still science fiction, as we already interact with many different forms of AI every day. From internet browsers that remember our searches to social media apps that remember what we like, systems with the ability to learn and apply reason have become so commonplace we almost don’t notice them.
, futurist and MYOB chief technology officer, has spent a lifetime observing developments in AI and he says there are plenty of recent advances to be excited about. “I was about 10 years old and I remember hooking up a chess-playing computer to an Apple computer so the two machines could battle each other, and it honestly blew my mind.
“The fact you can have two computers battle each other in chess with no human interruption was a game-changer for me and something I will never forget.”
Raik-Allen points to Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo program as a seismic development in AI after it defeated legendary Go player Lee Se-dol in South Korea earlier this year.
One of the world’s oldest known board games, Go is an ancient Chinese game dating back about 5500 years that requires such high levels of intuition and evaluation that it’s long been considered one of the greatest challenges for AI. “Go always defined the boundary between human intelligence and computers,” Raik-Allen says.
“But when AlphaGo beat Lee Se-dol, for me it destroyed the magic of human intelligence, and it was beautiful.”
While advanced AI programs such as Google DeepMind are yet to be fully commercialised, leading technology companies have begun making the next generation of super intelligent computer systems available for a variety of commercial and research uses.
One such system is IBM’s Watson which is capable of answering complex questions by simultaneously employing 100 different techniques to analyse natural language, generate hypotheses and rank evidence. Watson’s powers of cognitive computing were famously demonstrated by beating two former champions on the quiz show Jeopardy, all while using a robotic finger to push the buzzer for each answer.
In recent years, Watson has been commissioned for a diverse range of projects ranging from lung cancer diagnosis and weather prediction through to music recommendation apps and even conversation for children’s toys.
Business bots
As the computing power of artificial intelligence systems continues to grow exponentially, the applications for the business world are promising to be nothing short of prolific.
A number of AI applications have already been developed to build and strategise social influencer campaigns for brands by looking at which influencer's demographics and personality traits best align with a marketer and the audience it's targeting.
Simon Raik-Allen says developments such as these are the catalyst for creating the next generation of jobs in the AI business world. “Social media campaigns are now so crucial to the marketing mix so one position that could play an integral role in the future is what’s called a ‘bot lobbyist’.
“They’ll be able to take charge of a virtual army of real (and not-so-real) social media accounts or bots to support a client’s PR and marketing campaigns.”
Data analysis conducted by artificial intelligence may also enable companies to get maximum efforts from their employees in the future through a new role that Raik-Allen calls a productivity counsellor.
“As workers compete in a future of scarcer work opportunities and employers are able to access real time data about their staff’s health, working habits and attention, these specialists will be able to help provide maximum value.”
has already begun utilising AI in its software programs to allow small businesses to drastically reduce the time-consuming process of bill processing.
Their utilises a form of AI called Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which is designed to automatically capture and interpret data fields from invoices. “We’ve embraced AI as a way to benefit and help make business life easier for our customers,” Raik-Allen says.
“There’s much more to see in the AI space and as an industry and we’re still very much in the early days, but we can already see the benefits it has through the success of Smart Bills.”
Cognitive culture
As businesses of every size begin to embrace AI tools and software to build a new competitive advantage for themselves, it’s up to executives to begin creating an internal environment that’s open-minded and ready to embrace the possibilities of AI.
By looking at current processes and determining which parts can be automated, Simon Raik-Allen says business leaders will be putting themselves on the front foot for eventual opportunities to leverage AI programs.
“You have to your business and automate as many manual processes as you can, as anything you commit to paper now or a system you have that can’t handle automation will not benefit your business in the future.
“Not only is the process good for your business now, it will prepare you for when the AI algorithms can operate over it.”
Creating a culture that’s ready to work hand-in-hand with artificial intelligence is not about weeding out the Luddites however. Raik-Allen says it’s more about pointing out how intertwined AI already is within daily life so employees don’t feel like they’ll be out of a job.
“You have to remind your teams that AI exists in so many forms all around us every day such as Google searches suddenly appearing on your Facebook feed through an AI algorithm or asking Siri questions on your iPhone and getting an answer from a cognitive system.
“AI is such a broad term and it’s been around for decades so a lot of it’s an education process that helps individuals realise that AI exists to make your life easier.”
In the age of intelligent machines, the human touch is also likely to become infinitely more valuable in building relationships with customers as people will begin to seek out those businesses that are able to provide meaningful interactions.
So while Steve from finance may not appreciate the charisma and charm you bring to the workplace every day, in the new era of AI-enabled businesses, the traits that make you uniquely human will always have value to your organisation.