- Investments in AI are growing rapidly as companies seek to capitalize on its burgeoning capabilities.
- I have questions about the impact of AI on job security, diversity and the environment.
- AI can help you deliver a more personalized experience to your customers.
Dr. Andrew McMullan, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at CommBank, recently spoke as part of a panel of AI industry experts about the future of rapidly growing AI technologies.
AI has recently received a lot of attention from both the media and major technology companies, who are vying to incorporate it into their operations. Applications such as ChatGPT have sparked a new wave of interest in AI’s ability to learn and generate content seemingly through human interaction. And new ways of working and communicating with AI.
In an introduction to the forum, Andrew Groth, senior vice president and regional head of Australia and New Zealand at Infosys, described a survey his company conducted of 1,200 organizations with revenues of US$500 million or more. Quoted. Astonishingly, we predicted that the use of AI and data integration could generate US$467 billion in incremental profits.1
Impact of AI on careers
One of the main concerns people have about AI is its impact on work. Especially the white-collar sector, where AI could take on roles previously thought to be beyond the scope of automation.
The World Economic Forum predicts that 85 million jobs will be lost globally to automation by 2025, but it is also projected to create 97 million new jobs.2
Panelists agreed that while AI will take on increasingly new roles, it will also require oversight and human intervention. AI will enhance the work people do, and more and more employees will need AI skills.
The lack of appropriately skilled data scientists and software engineers has forced many companies to look to train their staff to work with AI applications. His recent McKinsey survey revealed that almost half of the organizations using AI source their talent in-house.3
Dr. McMullan emphasized the importance of upskilling, citing programs CommBank has put in place to train staff in new business areas.
“We are seeing a shift in the skills required to serve our customers, so we are training people who are doing frontline work to be engineers together, to be analytics experts, to be machine learning experts. and participating in AI.”
Building Diversity into AI
The panel also considered questions about AI versatility and how to ensure non-discriminatory language and learning is built into AI models. The challenge is to build an AI system that reflects the social and cultural diversity of the population in an equitable way.
Dr. McMullan emphasized that organizations need to be aware of where AI systems are getting data from and how they are learning.
“Many of the generative AIs being built are learning from data that can potentially be biased as to when the data was written and the story at the time.”
“Therefore, from an organizational point of view, CommBank is very focused on fully understanding AI use cases, and AI principles, policies, and all use cases are well thought out in advance. We will do anything with it.
AI and environment
Panel discussions raised the issue of AI and its environmental impact, particularly the carbon footprint of the technologies used. Dr. McMullan emphasized the importance of being carbon-neutral in all activities, but also how AI can be used to increase efficiency, such as running data services.
“Our team is always thinking about proactive and positive use cases for AI. Using AI, we can actually improve data processing. We monitor thousands of computers and systems to improve their efficiency and make sure they aren’t consuming more energy than they should.”
Another example is using AI to detect and reduce data duplication. Having multiple copies of the same digital record is not only inefficient, it can also make it difficult to use the data effectively in things like marketing campaigns and targeted customer messages.
Create personal experiences with AI
On how to use AI to enhance business practices, Dr. McMullan highlighted how AI is enhancing CommBank’s customer experience by focusing on providing personal digital interactions.
“Given the rapidly increasing number of ways customers engage with digital banking on our apps and e-banking channels, every time a customer logs in, the information they are looking for is immediately available and We want to make sure it’s personalized.
“We have invested heavily in our customer engagement engine, which uses thousands of models to leverage real-time data to give customers the conversations and experiences that matter most in every customer interaction. to run.”
“That’s why we focus on making the customer experience as personal as possible,” he concludes.
Event
The next wave of AI is here. What is Afternext? This forum was hosted by Trans-Tasman Business Circle in partnership with Infosys. This is part of a series of discussions in our Infosys AfterNext series, looking at how developments in areas such as technology and sustainability are shaping the world we live in.
The speakers on the panel are:
- Professor Toby Walsh, Chief Scientist at UNSW.ai, UNSW Sydney’s AI Lab
- Dr. Ian Opperman, Chief Data Scientist, NSW Government
- Moderator: Professor Sally Eaves, Chairman of Cybertrust
You can watch the forum recording here.
AI technology expert
Dr. Andrew McMullan Chief Data and Analytics Officer for Technology at Commonwealth Bank, leading the data and analytics team. Core capabilities include customer engagement engine (design and delivery of all customer contact strategies across all systems and all channels), data office and data science, and advanced modeling (all AI, machine learning, deep learning, adaptive modeling, and advanced analytics).
Previously, he was Director of Customer Analytics and Decision Making at The Royal Bank of Scotland, responsible for data distribution, analysis, customer decision making, customer communication, pricing strategy and customer value management for all brands in the retail banking and small business portfolio. was RBS.
Early in his career, McMullan worked as a mathematics and statistics lecturer before spending several years at UBS Investment Bank leading the ratings and LGD methodology team.
To learn more from industry-leading experts, visit CommBank Foresight™ – Insights for future-proof businesses.
