Already, artificial intelligence impacts how leaders approach their role and guide their teams. In fact, McKinsey reports that roughly a third of companies use generative AI in at least one business function. Generative AI, the latest iteration of artificial intelligence, uses neural networks to identify patterns and transform data into new text, images and even proteins.
The rapid evolution of these generative tools has changed the future of AI in business. Many previous assumptions about robotics and replacing manual workers have been shattered. Instead, the natural language processing potential of AI is changing the way we think about creativity at work. Executives now envision a future in which they work alongside AI, almost as if it were a new team member.
What impact will generative AI have on teams?
In the months and years to come, leaders will need to be aware of the impact of the evolution of generative AI business applications on their teams. If AI doesn’t replace workers, what happens instead? Is AI a colleague? Is this still a technology that people can buy into or not?
Let’s take an example. Just a year ago, a marketing team could have employed 10 designers to generate photos to send to influencers. This team of designers may have produced a series of photos each week, say 20 good designs. Now, generative AI can produce 3,000 photos per week after processing the hottest videos and images online. From these photos, the design team can then produce the top 20 much more quickly by catapulting their work from the AI images and adding the finishing touches.
Since AI can do most of the work of reading existing images and producing countless results, the marketing team now only needs two designers to produce the same amount (or more) of designs per week. Additionally, the generated images are trendier and more eye-catching since the AI can process the most popular images and videos every week. This shows how generative AI can improve human work. At first glance, it looks like he could replace him as well. But is it really possible, or will it just change the way human labor deals with AI assistance?
The changing role of creatives
If AI has somehow taken over the time-consuming task of generating images, the logical question becomes: what about the designers? Should a leader really mobilize his design team in favor of AI? What skills should designers have in the AI era?
Obviously, designers no longer need to draw a lot of pictures. Instead, designers with a better sense of beauty will thrive in the AI era because they are better at selecting images. With AI on the team, designers remain essential, but their work is less of a creative hand and more of a creative eye. Designers are still key to reviewing the work created by AI, potentially refining it by hand with their skills or curating the request to get the AI closer to what the client wants. AI cannot self-regulate to accomplish these tasks, especially right now. The designer’s work then evolves to be assisted, or even a springboard, by AI. However, AI cannot replace valuable human labor.
What this means for leadership
The role of leadership may seem assured within this changing network. However, leaders will also have to adapt. In the case of the design team, leaders will need to take a holistic view to manage the balance between human creativity and AI productivity. A leader must understand the processes on both sides, see where the true value lies, and repeat those processes to improve their value.
For the marketing team example, the leader of that company will need to decide whether to reduce the size of the design team or expand it now that it can handle higher capacity. Additionally, they need to understand how AI costs scale differently from human capital costs.
For example, in the past, having a new designer working on a new product line was expensive. Managers had to either give the designer time to learn or hire new designers with the experience. However, such AI scaling will become instant and free since the AI system has already trained with these images. On the other hand, if the leader wants to design an entirely new set of products, such as Dyson’s new air-purifying headphones, human designers might be able to think faster than the AI system since the AI system does not Haven’t seen any training data on this new category.
Leaders need to understand the differences between the costs and benefits of AI productivity versus human productivity. Given the rapid evolution of AI, this task is immense.
What is the role of a leader in the evolution of AI?
The impact of AI on business means executives won’t be able to simply integrate it into their company’s workflows. They will also have to manage their teams according to how AI appears in their businesses, such as resolving copyright issues related to the use of AI. The roles of leaders will continue to evolve as AI evolves.
It is important to note that these changes will not be annual; there will be monthly or even weekly updates, given how quickly generative AI has evolved over the past few months. Leaders must be willing to change more quickly, make more data-driven decisions, and learn how to communicate those changes to their teams in a way that enlightens and inspires rather than threatens.
What strategies can leaders use to scale wisely with AI?
As AI evolves more and more quickly, the challenge for leaders is to stay on top of their approaches. They don’t need to understand everything or be a ChatGPT expert to successfully guide their team through new iterations of work. But they will have to strategize.
• Adopt a learning mindset.
Business leaders are used to thinking quite slowly (compared to today) to make a thoughtful decision, but today learning through AI is happening daily. Leaders can adopt it if they wish. Go back to the days when you studied articles, try to keep up with the latest innovations, and continue to tell your friends and competitors about what they are learning.
• Prepare for extra time.
As AI is evolving, changes that may seem sudden at first will soon be integrated into daily life. Innovations accumulate, which means that managing tedious tasks becomes easier and the speed of this development increases exponentially. Leaders who embrace AI productivity are also more likely to manage agile adaptation to future developments.
• Manage people’s expectations.
A leader can examine their workflows as much as they want, but if team members don’t engage with AI, the organization will close its mind to new things. Leaders need to tell the AI story in a way that engages the team and encourages open-mindedness. How could a leader paint a picture of improved productivity in a way that helps their team members dream of future goals?
Generative AI business applications are already changing the way we work, even as technology evolves with daily ferocity. A leader willing to accelerate and expand their learning mindset will be better able to adapt to the future of enterprise AI, but they will need to consult with their human team every step of the way. The key to managing the impact of AI on business it will be about balancing human creativity and AI-based creativity and finding harmony between them. So if you’re wondering how to implement AI in your business, talking to your team might be the best place to start.
Featured image credit: Austin Distel; Unsplash; THANKS!
