“The amazing thing is not the number of cells in a brain, but what lies between them.” (Joi Ito, How to Survive our Faster Future)
0%
“The amazing thing is not the number of cells in a brain, but what lies between them.” (Joi Ito, How to Survive our Faster Future)
The study of neurosciences is going through a particularly interesting phase and its scope is boundless. A single neuron can have thousands of connections, called synapses, with other neurons. A “cosmic” vision is that of Joi Ito, who compares our brain to a star-filled sky: “The fact that those hundreds of thousands of billions of connections (synapses) are equivalent to the number of stars in a thousand galaxies of the Milky Way explains why the brain resembles the cosmos as a vast frontier beyond human comprehension.”
The same human comprehension stands at the centre of studies on Artificial Intelligence. A topic which embraces several fields of study, as evidenced by data and statistics easily accessible online.
Well, if our brain is still unbeatable, then why is artificial intelligence so important to boost our performance? Within what perimeter will the human-tech synergic synapsis take place in our future in the making?
Even before we start to discuss how AI is changing our working lives, we can take it out of context and go to the heart of its very existence, to its main characteristic: the power of prediction.
Prediction is the ability to elaborate a great quantity of data of different types in order to generate future scenarios and highlight possible alternatives. It does so thanks to the an ever evolving computational capacity, that is to say a simply exceptional capacity for calculation.
“Just as computers have made arithmetic plentiful at zero cost, in the same way AI is affording us a generous power of prediction at a low cost.” - Andrea Ruscica – Altea Federation – Becoming The Future – September 2018 Click To TweetAs argued by the researchers of the MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW (in the article “What to expect from Artificial Intelligence”), AI can help us solve problems with regard to which we would not previously have made forecasts, or which would have been too costly or ineffective, preferring to act instead in a reactive condition. At the same time, AI can help us redefine the role of man, by highlighting the value of certain human skills and liberating him from repetitive tasks that lend themselves to being robotized.
In fact, there can be no doubt that AI, especially in the field of Machine Learning, has undergone a sharp acceleration in recent years and all this may lead to radical social consequences, in combination with the automation of an increased number of TASKS.
Let’s consider our own companies. What do we all do every day at work? We carry out tasks of various kinds with varying levels of responsibility. Despite evident differences between one job and another, the anatomy of a task does not differ:
finally, on the grounds of the feedback received, we can decide to re-elaborate the data in our possession and repeat the cycle in order to achieve a better result.
Whatever your job role, you carry out tasks. I believe it is quite clear that the application of AI tools can be a boost in the prediction phase, while leaving the actual judgement to people.
Prediction is not synonymous with automation; or rather, not all tasks can be automated / robotized. Those in which the prediction component is predominant are tasks which may potentially be automated because they have an abundance of data input and well definable results, so judgement carries less weight. On the contrary, in other cases in which judgement is strategic and irreplaceable, man plays the protagonist role and will generate its greatest value. How? By using the prediction power (AI) to ponder better choices for the future (of man).
Prediction and Judgement are further bound together by a principle which in economics is defined as complementarity, whereby as the price of prediction gradually decreases (owing to the effect of Moore’s Law which involves the acceleration of any technology), the value of judgement, human judgement therefore, increases.
We can therefore identify the irreplaceable human capacities which cannot be replaced by an algorithm: for instance, intuition, ingenuity, empathy, emotive intelligence, listening capacity, ethics, creativity, communication.
“These are the qualities we need to shift into the organization in order to succeed in creating Intelligent Enterprises” Andrea Ruscica – Altea Federation – Becoming The Future – September 2018 Click To TweetThis is where the Big Shift takes place for Enterprises, this is where the human-tech partnership expresses its maximum value, moving towards a constant improvement in performance, machines and people.
A growth and transformation model is taking shape in Intelligent Enterprises, organizations which choose to introduce AI technologies, not to replace people but to support them in the execution of their tasks.
How can such an important transformation process be implemented? The levers that can come into play are numerous and considerably varied, according to the company’s core business, but there are certain managerial challenges common to all industries, contexts, countries and markets.
AI is everywhere and it is very powerful. It will take several more years before there is a real disruption in this respect, but experimentation continues and some experts forecast that the first copy of a human brain on a computer will take place in 2030. This is the fascinating research project led by Prof. Ivan Segev, engaged in simulating brain activity and reproducing it artificially. His analysis brings my attention back to the departure point, that is to say the myriad of synapses being lit up in our brain; according to the neuroscientist, “It is here that the secret of creativity and the capacity for adaptation is concealed.”
So, for example, thanks to the mix of human creative flair and digital intelligence tools, it will be possible to design better products and services in an on-going metamorphosis deriving from the increasingly refined prediction capacity, as recounted by Alberto Codrino, CEO of PLM Systems, in his artistic vision of Product Lifecycle Management.
Or, to quote another example, this new human-tech expertise will be essential for organizations in their human resource selection process, by exploiting available information more mindfully and using it in the boundless expanse needing to be combed in the search for that precious gem called talent, to quote the study of Miguel Rondon, CEO of Altea People, focused on the opportunities for HR management offered by the adoption of artificial intelligence devices.
Besides, the capacity to elaborate projected forecasts will be increasingly important also for IT Solution Architects, as suggested by Matteo Anchieri, CEO of Altea 365, who compares this key figure to an engineer or avant-garde architect intent on imagining and constructing a great work, one of a kind in terms of creativity and chosen materials, drawing up a solid strategy and giving a form to the cloud of data now available to us.
Therefore, I like to think of our #becomingthefuture as an age in which people fully express their potential and creativity, in the most variegated contexts and perimeters of innovation.
I am going to leave you with my inspirational overview presented at #becomingthefuture. Free download here
BIO
For 26 years, Altea Federation has been working alongside the global leaders of technological innovation through a holonic-virtual business model which embraces the professional approach and high degree of specialization of a federation of companies under one brand: different yet complementary worlds which reinforce each other while preserving a strong Group identity and an unmistakable approach to the challenges posed by new paradigms in the ambits of Consulting, Technology, Digital and Operations.
