machine, my coworker

Image Credit: (European Parliment) This illustration of artificial intelligence has in fact been generated by AI.

We often consider digital technologies like data platforms, AI, and copilot features as tools. But if we're rethinking the future of work and the future of careers and companies, it's helpful to think of these things as augmenting our efforts. For a copilot in particular, it becomes a junior coworker or maybe a more senior co-worker as the AI skills get better.

A single department would typically never hire ALL the employees for another department. So why is one department picking ALL the tools and making all the key decisions about what AI skills are running in another department? 

IT picks the technology tools but marketing finance human resources are consuming them --> That feels off.

🔹What if we put the machines in an org chart and managed their training like we would for any other group of employees?

🔹What if we figured out who's supervising them and who is the dotted line for thought partnerships they should have?

🔹How would the feedback be shared?

Our notion of Co-pilots as machine coworkers is still really underdeveloped but should be an aspect of a data strategy. Given the true cost of AI, we should be very intentional about how it is leveraged as part of the company's overall marketing, finance, human resource, and data strategy. AI isn't something to sprinkle on top so you don't feel behind.

There are ethics to consider: does the AI have rights? The European Union proposed draft regulations for AI in 2021; how should they be interpreted?

Some large language models are becoming so sophisticated they may be crossing a fuzzy line.

We are still experiencing how DallE2, OpenAI, and gpt3 impact the creative process while humans still drive it. There are many dimensions to how these tools augment our work.

We are still working through the transformational shifts in our data culture and people.