- AI tools are becoming increasingly popular in the workplace, but adoption can seem daunting.
- Three business leaders told Business Insider that education is key to unlocking AI's potential.
- The discussion took place as part of BI’s event, “Human-AI Collaboration: Key to Workplace Efficiency and Innovation,” hosted by Dell Technologies and held on April 23.
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Artificial intelligence is now virtually everywhere. Companies realize they need to incorporate this technology into their business, but when it comes to the possibilities it brings, they don't know where to start.
At Business Insider's virtual event hosted by Dell Technologies, “Human-AI Collaboration: Key to Workplace Efficiency and Innovation,” a panel of business leaders and innovation experts offered advice on how the workplace can integrate AI into its systems.
One of the biggest hurdles in adopting AI is demystifying the technology and positioning it as a tool that can learn. “This is entirely achievable,” says Matt Baker, senior vice president of AI enablement at Dell Technologies. “And this large ecosystem is accessible today.”
Baker described AI as “a wealth of capabilities.” Over the past year, the market has exploded with new AI systems that competently tackle a variety of processes, from task management to generative writing. But the applications are nearly limitless, so refining AI's use cases will be key to guiding the future of AI in the workplace.
“This is a really exciting new technology, and we're still in the early stages, so it's important to keep an open mind and see what works and what doesn't,” said Dr. Mojyar Etemadi, medical director of advanced technology at Northwestern Medicine. “The last thing we want is to have yet another piece of software that's locked into a big vendor that everyone has to use and nobody wants to use.”
Baker and Etemadi were joined by Peter Miscovic, head of JLL's global consulting practice on the future of work. Miscovic said the biggest hurdle in adopting AI is figuring out exactly how to use the technology. “The need for training and change management and education has never been greater. I think I use generative AI every day, but it took me a year to get used to the interventions and the interface,” he said.
At Dell, Baker's team has made education a central component of their AI adoption. “We're making education a pillar of our team members' understanding of the technology,” he says. “Education leads to better outcomes for our members and ultimately, and more importantly, better outcomes for our customers.”
The panel also warned against a timid approach to AI. Unlocking the technology requires fully embracing AI's capabilities. For Dr. Mosier, that comes down to the design of the AI itself. “People should design AI to interact with them as closely as they would interact with a human in a similar role,” he said.
Baker added that it's important to build new systems around AI, rather than simply weaving it into existing workflows: “If the process is garbage to begin with, the results will be garbage.”
Baker continued that such a system also requires deliberate intent behind it: “There's a framework for thinking about how to develop a unique approach for your company, your business, your organization,” he said.
“We're very focused on use case diagnosis,” Miskovic said of the team's efforts to use AI more effectively. He explained that they start by evaluating “how your current processes are structured” and then figure out how generative AI can make those processes “much more efficient and effective.”
JLL has recently launched several AI initiatives, including an HVAC energy optimization platform that helps reduce energy and service costs, and JLL GPT, a generative AI project built for the commercial real estate industry.
For Dr. Mojjar, the greatest potential of AI in medicine is its ability to assess a patient's condition. His team is currently using AI tools that can analyze the text of patient consultations to spot issues that should be followed up, as well as an in-house AI assistant that helps radiologists spot critical issues.
“We hope that interacting with AI, or using AI, paradoxically removes the barrier between the doctor and the computer in our case,” Dr. Mojjar said. “Ideally, it's just you and the patient.”
But as the AI landscape accelerates and more companies begin to adopt AI, Baker said, companies that get involved now will reap the most benefits. “Run your own race and understand how to most effectively apply AI, but understand that it's a race,” he said. “So get started.”
