Mike Walsh, futurist, in his recent Harvard Business Review article argues that AI should change what you do, not just how you do it.
In the article, he quoted examples from Goldman Sachs and UBS on how the traditional banks harness the tremendous potential of artificial intelligence.
The high unemployment numbers of the Covid-19 recession have obscured a systemic problem: the accelerating effect of automation on the workforce. We have been here before. In each of the last few recessions, there have been significant spikes in labor-replacing automation. Although salaries may fall in a crisis, shrinking revenues and the impact on the bottom line typically drive companies to invest in new technology rather than hiring people.
For economist David Autor, the 2020 employment crisis will be further exaggerated by what he calls “automation forcing.” In his view, social distancing requirements and stay-at-home orders may drive temporary labor shortages, forcing firms to leverage emerging technologies to get things done with fewer people — whether it be “fewer workers per store, fewer security guards and more cameras, more automation in warehouses, or more machinery applied to nightly scrubbing of workplaces.”
That is one grim scenario, certainly, but not an inevitable one. One way out of the dystopian cycle of automation and job loss is if more organizations can harness technology to reimagine work — rather than merely replace it. To do that, we need to consider how AI and machine intelligence can enable disruptive business ideas and customer experiences, unlock new ways of working, and augment teams to innovate and solve problems more effectively.
Read the rest of the article here.
Mike Walsh is the CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy on designing business for the 21st century. His expertise is giving leaders advise on how to thrive in this era of disruptive technological change. Mikes travels the world over 300 days a year, interviewing innovators, entrepreneurs and corporate revolutionaries to give his clients and audiences the freshest and best vision of tomorrow’s opportunities.
Mike has delivered close to a thousand keynote speeches to companies in almost every industry around the globe. In 2014, Mike was invited to be a main stage keynote speaker at the renowned Million Dollar Round Table where his customized presentation reached more than 8,000 people.
Aside from being a favored speaker to several global Fortune 500 companies, Mike is also a prolific writer. His international publications include articles in BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. He is also the author of the best-selling book FUTURETAINMENT (published by Phaidon and winner of the design award by the Art Director’s Club in New York) and The Dictionary of Dangerous Ideas.
Mike was the founder of Jupiter Research (Australia), was a senior strategist at News Corporation (Asia Pacific Region). He is currently a board member and strategic investor in the North Alliance, Scandinavia’s leading digital marketing group.
Mike’s keynotes are:
- The Algorithmic Leader
- Designing your business for the 21st century
- Digital Transformation
- Human-centric Innovation
Contact us if you would like to engage Mike Walsh to deliver webinars and workshops for your business.