What Business Leaders Need To Know About Artificial Intelligence

Mastering AI by Jeremy Kahn is absolutely a must-read for every business leader who wants to better understand the history and evolution of AI (Artificial Intelligence), and more important, the promise and perils of AI for businesses and society. Even if you think you have a basic understanding of AI, this book is an essential resource for you.

That is because Kahn delivers not only a timely, thorough and thought-provoking examination of AI’s benefits to humanity as well as its potentially chilling dangers, but also and vitally, a declaration for how we should proceed as AI evolves.

Reading Mastering AI reminded me of the popular The Popcorn Report by Faith Popcorn – where in 1992 she identified and forecasted trends to chart the future's impact on our businesses, our lives, and our world.

Similarly, Fortune magazine journalist, Kahn, draws on his expertise and extensive contacts among the companies and scientists at the forefront of artificial intelligence to offer dramatic predictions of AI’s impact over the next decade, from reshaping our economy and the way we work, learn, and create to unknitting our social fabric, jeopardizing our democracy, and fundamentally altering the way we think.

Kahn explains that AI depends on three components:

Algorithms
Computing Power
Data

What AI does:

AI processes massive amounts of data, looking for patterns to model decision-making.
AI enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities
AI technology can process substantial amounts of data in ways, unlike humans.

Within the next five years, Kahn predicts AI will disrupt almost every industry and enterprise, with vastly increased efficiency and productivity.

For example, Kahn foresees that AI will restructure the workforce, making AI “copilots” necessary for every knowledge worker.

“Almost every professional, in fields from accounting to medicine to architecture, will be using an AI copilot, helping to automate many routine tasks in their jobs and acting as a kind of digital colleague,” says Kahn.

And away from work, Kahn forecasts that AI will:

Revamp education, meaning children around the world can have personal, portable tutors.
Revolutionize health care, making individualized, targeted pharmaceuticals more affordable.
Compel us to reimagine how we make art, compose music, and write and publish books.

“The potential of generative AI to extend our skills, talents, and creativity as humans is undeniably exciting and promising,” shares Kahn.

However, “while this new technology has a bright future, it also casts a dark and fearful shadow,” warns Kahn.

Kahn explains that if not carefully designed and vigilantly regulated AI will deepen income inequality, depressing wages while imposing winner-take-all markets across much of the economy.

Also, continuing a process begun by the internet, AI will rewire our brains, likely inhibiting our ability to think critically, to remember, and even to have a good relationship with one another—unless we all take decisive action to prevent this from happening.

“Yes, this technology is strange and frightening, but it is also exciting and fabulous in equal measure,” says Kahn. He adds that “like every technology that has come before, we can master AI. But to do so, we must master ourselves. We must apply our own natural intelligence, creativity, and wisdom. If this is indeed the last invention humanity ever creates, we’d better make it good.”

Jeremy Kahn

Today, Kahn shares these additional insights for business leaders:

Question: In general, what are the most important factors to consider when thinking about how a company can use AI to gain a competitive advantage?

Kahn: For most companies, their competitive advantage will come from any proprietary data they have that can give them a competitive edge.

For large rights holding organizations—such as publishers, movie studios, record labels, pharmaceutical companies, and others with big IP (intellectual property) libraries—this advantage could potentially come from this back catalog of intellectual property.

But for the majority of companies, the really unique data they have is their own customer data. If they can use that data correctly, AI should allow them to do a better job of market segmentation and then targeting those segments with much more personalized advertising and offers, and possibly, depending on the business, with more personalized products.

Then the other kind of data that organizations have that might give them a competitive advantage is all the tacit knowledge that is not documented anywhere but exists in the minds and experience of their best performing employees—the people who are true experts and masters of their professional craft (be that sales or operations or legal work).

Until now, there was no good way to turn that tacit knowledge into data that a company could use. But AI offers a way to potentially capture that tacit knowledge and turn it into data that AI can then process and use to help uplift the performance of workers across the organization. The only big question will be, how best to capture that data so that tacit knowledge can be extracted? The businesses that can figure this out first will have a competitive advantage over others.

Question: How should a business leader incorporate thoughts of AI into his/her five-year planning?

Kahn: Leaders need to start thinking now about how AI could potentially reshape the competitive landscape of their industry:

How might it upend existing business models?
Are you ready for that shift?
How can you defend your business and position it to excel if AI does become the dominant technology platform in the next five years?

For many leaders, they should begin experimenting with AI now and see what they can do with today's software. But they should also realize that the AI being used today will probably be the worst AI they will use.

So, they need to project ahead and plan for AI that will be much more capable within five years. For most businesses, this means they should not train their own models, but should instead look to buy from outside vendors. They should also try to architect the use of AI in their systems so they are not locked into a particular model or vendor over the long term but could potentially, in a modular way, slot in different models into that architecture.

What they should definitely do is make sure they have a good handle on all of their data, make sure it is cleaned up, and make sure it is in a form that can easily be accessed by AI to perform useful tasks. That digital transformation is the fundamental foundation on which all else will be built.

___

Reading Mastering AI will improve your understanding of the technology (pros and cons), spur your imagination for what is possible, and encourage you to embrace what is necessary to keep AI at bay.

Kahn is an award-winning journalist for Fortune magazine, where he covers artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. In addition to cover stories and features, he writes Fortune’s weekly Eye on AI newsletter and cochairs its Brainstorm AI technology conferences.

Previously, he wrote about technology, including AI, for Bloomberg. His writing on a range of subjects has also appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Smithsonian magazine, The Boston Globe, The New Republic, and Slate.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Comments

The 12 Ways Marriott Practices Good Leadership And Customer Service

The next time you stay at a Marriott hotel look in the nightstand drawer for Marriott's booklet that highlights its milestones and tells the Marriott story. In the booklet, you'll find the following 12 ways that Marriott practices good leadership AND customer service : Continually challenge your team to do better. Take good care of your employees, and they'll take good care of your customers, and the customers will come back. Celebrate your people's success, not your own. Know what you're good at and mine those competencies for all you're worth. Do it and do it now. Err on the side of taking action. Communicate. Listen to your customers, associates and competitors. See and be seen. Get out of your office, walk around, make yourself visible and accessible. Success is in the details. It's more important to hire people with the right qualities than with specific experience. Customer needs may vary, but their bias for quality never does. Elimin...

Don't Delay Tough Conversations With Your Employees

If you have an employee who needs to improve his/her performance don't delay the tough conversation with them. If you don't address the issue right now, the employee has little chance to improve, and you'll only get more frustrated. Most employees want to do a good job. Sometimes they just don't know they aren't performing up to the required standards. Waiting until the employee's annual performance appraisal to have the tough conversation is unhealthy for you and the employee. So, address the issue now. Sit down with your employee in a private setting. Look them in the eye. First, tell them what they do well. Thank them for that good work. Then, tell them where they need to improve. Be clear. Be precise. Ask them if they understand and ask them if they need any help from you on how to do a better job. Explain to them that your taking the time to have the tough conversation means you care about them. You want them to do better. You believe they can do better. ...

Why Your Middle Managers Are So Important

The book, Power To The Middle , shows how managers are the crucial link between a company’s ground floor and top brass. “Too often company leaders view middle managers in a negative light as expendable employees who can slow down productivity and overall strategy,” explain the book’s authors and McKinsey partners Bill Schaninger , Bryan Hancock , and Emily Field . “However, new KcKinsey research reveals that this outdated perspective needs to change and that well-developed managers are the strategy that companies must prioritize to succeed today,” they add. Most importantly, by the end of their book, the authors sum up their insights and provide a playbook that will help senior leaders let go of the command-and-control mindset that has hobbled their managers for so long. The authors define middle managers as the people who are at least once removed from the front line and at least a layer below the senior lead...

Frustration In The Workplace Is A Silent Killer

" Frustration in the workplace is a silent killer," claim authors Mark Royal and Tom Agnew in their terrific book, The Enemy of Engagement . Further, "in an organizational context, frustration is not as simple as failing to get something you want. Rather, it involves the inability to succeed in your role due to organizational barriers or the inability to bring the bulk of your individual talents, skills, and abilities to your job." Royal and Agnew further explain that a staggering number of highly motivated, engaged, and loyal employees quit trying--or quit, period---because they feel frustrated . And what's causing all that frustration? It's lack of enablement . According to Royal and Agnew, as employees grow in experience in their roles, they begin to focus less on learning the ropes and more on achieving desired results. In the process, they are increasingly confronted with enablement constraints that limit their ability to get their ...

Important Questions To Ask Your New Hires

In Paul Falcone ’s book, 75 Ways For Managers To Hire, Develop And Keep Great Employees , he recommends asking new employees the following questions 30, 60 and 90 days after they were hired: 30-Day One-on-One Follow-Up Questions Why do you think we selected you as an employee? What do you like about the job and the organization so far? What’s been going well? What are the highlights of your experiences so far? Why? Tell me what you don’t understand about your job and about our organization now that you’ve had a month to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Have you faced any unforeseen surprises since joining us that you weren’t expecting? 60-Day One-on-One Follow-Up Questions Do you have enough, too much or too little time to do your work? Do you have access to the appropriate tools and resources? Do you feel you have been sufficiently trained in all aspects of your job to perform at a high level? How do you see your job relating to the organi...

Discover Your True North And Internal Compass

In his book, True North , Bill George shows you how to discover your true north - your internal compass that guides you successfully through life. "Only when you discover your true north can you unlock your full potential as a leader and human being," explains George. In the book, published a couple weeks ago, George shares with you how to: Cultivate self-awareness Define your values Find the "sweet spots": of your motivated capabilities Build your support team and lead an integrated life Make the journey from "I' to "We" as an empowering leader Become a global leader Bill George George shares profiles and stories from more than 100 leaders who in their own words explain how they discovered their true north. He also explains the characteristics differences needed to be a leader in the Twenty-First Century versus the Twentieth-Century. Today's leaders, he says need to be: Purpose-drive versus charismatic Globally focused versus U. S.-centri...

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership . In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catal...

What Will Your Leadership Legacy Be?

As a leader, you likely have asked yourself, " How do I want to be remembered as a leader ?" But, perhaps the more important question is, " How will I be remembered as a leader ?" The answer to that question is likely going to be based on the valuable lessons you shared with those you led, among other things. The Kansas City Star newspaper last year wrote a story about Marion Laboratories and its 60th anniversary. In its heyday, Marion had 3,400 employees with sales of nearly $1 billion and in 1989 merged with Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Ewing Kauffman, fondly known as Mr. K, led Marion during its peak, and is remembered as one of the most effective, influential leaders ever in the Kansas City area. Former employees quoted in the newspaper article remember Mr. Kauffman as a leader who shared these lessons with them: "You can do anything you want if you set your mind to it and if you study your competition." "You can...

Why A Team Needs More Than Strong Leaders

The book, Team Players , by leadership expert and New York Times bestselling author, Mark Murphy , explains why a team needs more than strong leaders—it needs the right mix of five roles and talents to succeed. In addition, Murphy reveals that the secret to extraordinary teams isn’t making everyone the same—it’s embracing and leveraging fundamental differences through those five distinct team roles. No amount of teambuilding, trust, or cohesion can overcome having the wrong mix of people in the room. The five essential roles and talents are: The Director assumes a leadership role within the team, guiding its direction and making important, difficult, and even unpopular decisions. The Achiever immerses themselves in the details of accomplishing tasks and getting things done, with a keen eye for delivering error-free work. The Stabilizer keeps the team on track with meticulous...

My Favorite "Moral Of The Story" Tips From Harvey Mackay

I'm a big fan of best-selling author Harvey Mackay . He writes about business, sales and leadership and typically ends his articles with a moral of the story. Culled from his writings of the past few years, here are some of my favorites of his moral of the story endings: Change your thinking, change your life. It's not enough to know how to do things - you must know why you do them. If you live in the past, you won't have much of a future. If you want to outsmart the competition, you have to outthink the competition. Don't be afraid to make a decision. Be afraid not make a decision. What you learn on your first job will last through your last job. Minds are like parachutes - not much good unless they are open. If you can't be an expert, hire one. People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be. It only takes a little spark to ignite a great fire. Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do. Mackay's best-...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog