Just about everywhere I turn I find discussion of Artificial Intelligence (AI). People are talking about how it will affect Demand Planning, How it will affect Project Management, How it will affect banking, and so on. Some people fear that AI will take their jobs.
The American Heritage® Dictionary defines Intelligence as, “The ability to acquire, understand, and use knowledge.” They define Artificial Intelligence as, “The ability of a computer or other machine to perform those activities that are normally thought to require intelligence.” However, creative is defined as, “Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative.” [i]
AI is great at helping us make sense of complex and dynamic data. AI can make art or music that mimics human artists. But AI cannot replicate the creativity and intuition of a human mind. Letting AI automate mundane tasks frees us up to be more creative and social. As AI takes over routine work, humans will be able to focus more on critical thinking, problem solving, and leadership.
I doubt AI will ever replace human creativity. We humans have amazing brains that are uniquely able to take intuitive leaps to apply learning from one subject to something completely unrelated.
- During World War One, military designers adapted cubist art to create more effective camouflage patterns.
- German chemist August Kekule got the idea for the structure of the benzene ring from the ancient symbol of a snake biting its tail.
- Knute Rockne got the idea for “The Notre Dame Shift” from the precision and timing of a burlesque chorus line.
These are the kind of intuitive leaps that can only happen in a creative human mind as we apply knowledge from one discipline to develop novel approaches in another discipline. AI will not replace us if we keep learning and keep integrating new ideas.
As for the areas I work in, Project Management (PM) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP), I expect AI to be transformative. It is already used to understand relationships in complex data to create and update forecast models based on multiple causal factors. AI will continue to take on more and more administrative tasks, including data collection, tracking, and reporting. Practitioners in PM and IBP will need to learn how to leverage these capabilities to stay competitive.
As AI takes on more and more of these administrative tasks, humans will be freed up to spend more time on creative and “soft” skills such as ideation, relationship building, and telling the story that the data reveals. I have no fear of being replaced by AI, as long as I continue to learn about new things and find new ways to apply what I have learned.
What are your thoughts on AI? How will it transform your workplace?
[i] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition