Academics from the School of Management at the University of Leicester highlight the importance of enterprise and knowledge exchange between industry, policy makers and academia.
With the growing demand for interdisciplinary teams to address societal challenges, Dr. William Dahler is focused on translating academic research into tangible, real-world impact.
A lecturer in applied analysis and digital economics, he has led projects worth around £10m in his six years at the university. Many are focused on using AI to impact business.
Here, Dr. Dahler shares his passion for knowledge exchange, his thoughts on the impact of AI on business and innovation, and his suggestions for future developments.
Please tell us a little bit about your background.
I have a diverse background with experience in engineering, entrepreneurship, data science, and marketing.
I studied Engineering at the University of Nottingham, where I was offered a Research Fellowship in the Business School. During this European-funded project, I researched experiential service design and customer experience production across a range of creative industries. I enjoyed meeting various business leaders in the cultural sector and investigating creative ways we can provide unique and memorable experiences to our customers. I spent time in Nottingham for my PhD, using data science techniques to analyze changes in consumer behavior for a national retailer.
After completing my PhD, I joined the University of Leicester Business School (ULSB) as a lecturer, where I have now been for six years. In addition to lecturing, I also work with the School of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities to promote corporate strategy, engage with companies, train organizations and coach executives through the government-funded Business Growth Support Programme, and provide various support services in the UK and EU. I spend time teaching. funded project.
Could you give us an overview of your research field?
My background is in data science and digital economy, using AI and data analytics to understand changes in human and business behavior across a variety of industries. I have led around £10 million worth of projects over the past five years. This includes creating tools to optimize match attendance at sports clubs, dashboards to analyze customer behavior at cultural venues, and developing fintech software to reduce the time it takes to pay bills. I am currently working with the Institute for Digital Culture and the Audience Agency on a project funded by Innovate UK, developing new AI to increase engagement in the cultural industries across communities from diverse backgrounds. We aim to create a method.
What are you most excited about at this point in your career?
I am excited to support the achievements of the University as a whole and encourage my fellow academics to take part in knowledge exchange activities such as applying for research funding and collaborating with external partners. This extends beyond funding to engagement with consulting, executive education, policy makers, funders, and external organizations across the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
While many people tend to enter academia out of a passion for knowledge creation, I am more interested in knowledge exchange and how research can be applied to real life to have a positive impact. I'm interested. Across the university sector, we have amazing researchers producing amazing research, but fewer people are engaging with the external environment, and I think that's what makes my contribution unique. There is a lot of amazing research being conducted that has the potential to have a far-reaching positive impact on society as a whole, but that potential has not been fully realized. Funders and policymakers recognize this, and some great work is being undertaken to accelerate the impact of university research on people, places and organizations.
Some of the projects you're currently working on incorporate artificial intelligence. How will AI impact innovation?
AI can be used in a variety of applications and has great potential to improve innovation, business growth, and accessibility in a variety of sectors. As AI tools become more accessible to the general public (not just technology professionals), they can increase creativity through the generation of ideas for new products and services, foster innovation across various business functions, and even in the arts and entertainment. It has the potential to increase productivity across the sector. and the environment, finance, manufacturing, and transportation.
I foresee new business models and opportunities emerging similar to the transformative impact of the internet and digital media. AI also has the potential to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities, allowing them to participate in a variety of activities and employment opportunities. While AI offers exciting opportunities for creativity, innovation, and productivity, it is also important to consider the potential negative impacts of inaccuracy, bias, and discrimination. We are also beginning to see some of the negative effects of AI, which provides opportunities for universities, businesses, and policy makers to contribute to the laws and regulations that guide the use of data and the application of AI software.
I also think that creative people have the potential to start implementing their ideas in the real world and have a direct impact on the external environment. I'd like to see a move towards action (or action tanks), as I can get a bit fed up with academic think tanks. Only by moving towards action, influence and collaboration can we increase the impact of our work on broader society. I am excited about the changes currently taking place in academia and it will be very interesting to see how this benefits the external environment.
How can AI help your business?
AI can be a great tool for businesses, with applications ranging from improving product design, operational decision-making, and increasing efficiency to enhancing customer service, sales, and marketing. Analytics has played a huge role in a variety of industries for decades (from credit score analysis and algorithmic trading in finance to targeting different customer groups with advertising from retailers), but in modern times Advances in AI have increased the scale and sophistication of its capabilities. It is no longer the domain of large corporations, but is now available to small and medium-sized businesses as well.
All of this demonstrates the versatility of AI to address many tasks and challenges across a variety of industries, and how it can contribute to increased efficiency, cost savings, and accessibility.
How do you think AI will evolve in the next 10 years?
Considering the rapid advances in AI over the past few years, and especially the excitement that has arisen around ChatGPT, the next decade seems like quite a long time.
A big focus will be on responsible AI, its impact on business and society, and changing laws and government policies to foster this. Explainable AI (referring to AI that can be interpreted by “ordinary” people who are not technical) is particularly important for progress, such as Uber being fined after “robotically firing” employees based on decisions made. This will become even more important in light of the ongoing lawsuits. love.
We also see the potential to revolutionize business processes. We can already see it influencing the launch of Microsoft's chatbot Copilot, designed to improve productivity and reduce human workload.
The impact on employment is also interesting. In a report on how AI will impact work in the coming years, IBM and Barclays found that as AI becomes more pervasive, employers will focus more on soft skills (problem solving and They reported a return to a tendency to emphasize communication, etc. It has been found that the impact of AI is likely to have a large impact on lower-level jobs, and the focus of AI training for managers will shift to “how to use AI tools'' and “how to utilize human resources.'' is not it. 'AI's potential' for managers Overall, the report suggests that jobs will be enhanced and complemented by AI, rather than being replaced by it.
A slightly more worrying aspect is the risk of machines communicating with each other and making decisions without human intervention. For example, AI-generated funding applications and resumes are increasingly being judged and filtered by AI, removing the human element from the process. However, I think AI is far from fully taking over as human intervention is required to comply with GDPR regulations.
At the end of the day, I think the integration of AI into society is exciting in the short term. It will be interesting to see how AI will impact work, business, and society as a whole. But of course, there are many legal, ethical, and policy considerations to take into account. .
Where do you think AI will take us in the future?
The concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI), which represents a major advance beyond narrow AI to enable human-level thinking through AI, is interesting. It has a much broader range of functionality beyond specific tasks and a huge range of potential applications.
There are conflicting opinions about when AGI will become a reality. Some suggest it could happen in the late 2020s, while others argue it's still a distant goal. I argue that interdisciplinary collaboration between businesses, policy makers, and academics is needed to address the complex challenges and debates surrounding AGI and to establish regulations to guide its development and use. . This is an interesting prospect, but requires nuanced understanding and analysis to determine the impact on society.
