Now that the results of the US presidential election and the Senate and House elections are in, the Trump administration is widely expected to repeal the Biden executive order on artificial intelligence (AI). As AI news continues, with major investments and acquisitions making headlines, it’s important to pause and appreciate the revolution underway.
The coming months will likely bring other changes. The Biden order was intended to build guardrails around the technology, absent congressional action. Even without imposing rules, governments at all levels should consider how effective use of AI can enable the people they employ to better serve the public, especially when staff budgets are tight.
However, our international professional survey found that 57% of government officials are not using AI because they are waiting for clarity on the technology’s capabilities and security. And yet, there are compelling arguments for the potential benefits of AI, if budget-constrained government workforces can serve the public more quickly and effectively.
Regardless, this technology transition is happening too quickly for responsible businesses to wait for comprehensive guidance from the government. In fact, it is much more than just a technological transition. The advent of accessible AI represents a business transformation with enormous potential benefits for organizations that recognize and seize this opportunity. And because AI is not a simple plug-and-play technology, organizations must be prepared to manage the personnel and process changes necessary to implement, adopt and benefit from AI tools.
In search of new economic models
In our company, we are both a user of some AI products on the market and a partner in the development of AI technologies for our customers. From our perspective, we know that the AI revolution is already well underway in the business world.
As the business world navigates this technological transition, it would be wise to learn lessons from previous information technology revolutions. During my career, I have seen the advent of the PC on every desk, the deployment of the Internet as a professional medium, mobile computing, social media, cloud computing and now generative AI. Generative AI will be as disruptive and transformative for any profession as any of these previous technological developments. But it happens even faster.
Yet each of the previous revolutions has something to learn about the business opportunities associated with the thoughtful adoption of transformative new technologies. A lesson, whatever the profession: the need to adjust management practices, particularly in terms of recruitment and training on the most appropriate use of new technologies.
Past revolutions also contain lessons about the need to consider the risks that can arise from a blind rush to adopt the next new thing and the even greater risk of choosing not to participate in the revolution.
The business opportunities in adopting AI start simple: saving time on routine administrative tasks that generative AI can perform just as well, but much faster.
In our international survey of legal, accounting and other professional services professionals, we found that many respondents expect AI to save them up to 4 hours per week next year and up to 12 hours per week over the next 5 years. For lawyers, for example, this equates to one additional colleague for every 10 team members, increasing their firm’s capacity to accommodate more clients.
This type of change could involve rethinking the traditional law firm revenue model. Instead of charging primarily by human hour, they could consider new types of value-based pricing. AI can open up new industries while forcing companies to reassess their technology budgets and talent needs. And as AI may soon enable first-year associates to do the work of a fourth-year firm member, law firms may need to revisit their approach and the trajectory of their learning models.
Indeed, whatever the profession or sector, the AI revolution could lead to new types of economic models. Consider how a startup 15 years ago, Uberhas taken advantage of the smartphone-based mobile computing revolution to create a new category of transportation services that is now part of daily life in more than 10,000 cities around the world.
Startups are not the only ones that can benefit from technological revolutions. Big box retailer Walmart remains a dominant force in physical commerce, but it has also effectively used the Internet, mobile applications and the scale of cloud computing to become second only to Amazon in the American e-commerce market.
Caution may be understandable, but there is an even greater risk
Certainly, there are risks in embarking on a technological trend without a clearly defined and considered strategy. As the World Wide Web accelerated the Internet revolution beginning in the mid-1990s, the so-called dot-com boom — driven by frenzied investment in many flimsy business concepts — ended in a stock market crash.
For many organizations today, a slower approach to AI is understandable. This is true for many government professionals, given budgetary constraints and the risk of unintended negative consequences.
However, with the transition to AI already well underway, people and organizations that fail to adapt and adopt it risk finding themselves left behind. Young talent will avoid job offers from organizations that are not adopting the latest technologies, while new business sectors will emerge, creating first-mover advantages for early adopters. High-performing organizations will benefit from the steeper learning curves associated with adopting new generative AI technologies, creating lasting competitive advantages.
Again, previous technological revolutions can teach us this important lesson. Consider how Nokiaworld leader in mobile telephony in the early 2000s, was unable to adapt to the smartphone revolution. Many lesser-known companies in various fields have also sealed their fate by failing to remain technologically relevant.
This is a lesson for all of us. When it comes to the AI revolution, all organizations, whether acting aggressively or with considered caution, need to think strategically. And they must work in partnership with their suppliers, customers and constituents to navigate this transformative transition with agility.
Not participating in a technological revolution is simply not an option.
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