27/02/2024
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The German Manager Magazin writes: "Companies are now evaluating their organizations. Several management positions are expected to be eliminated. The timing for a revolution is convenient. The boomers are leaving, AI is coming.” (Manager Magazin, March 2024).
The article states that companies like Bayer, BASF, Conti, VW, Deutsche Bank, Siemens Energy, SAP, Zalando, around 50% of all Dax companies have started programs to improve efficiency. To be efficient means the ability to achieve a desired result or output with the least amount of wasted effort, resources, time, or energy (more on this topic in our recent article here).
The reasons for having to raise efficiency may be correlated to higher costs, the economic policy and energy policy, challenges in supply chain management and procurement, claim and compliance of the Green Deal, agile and sustainable competitors from outside the EU, among others. Entire industries have to face these challenges: automotive suppliers, chemistry. In the near future the automotive industry itself, Pharma and even power plant operators, operators of wind turbines and solar cells.
Some companies simply need to decrease costs like VW: 20 % less fixed costs by 2026 is the guideline, and workforce is part of it.
However, tasks have to be done and Artificial intelligence is an obvious mean to streamline by automation in order to diminish workforce and become more efficient. According to BCG only one in six companies have met their AI related objectives to date. Generative AI has incredible potential. AI in industrial operation is developing fast. We are in the middle of a transition process and are not yet aware of the enormous impact this continuing process will have.
In a survey with the biggest companies in Germany BCG discovered that the General Management is the less efficient, followed – with quite a distance – by Finance, Human Resources Management and Communications with Communications the most efficient.
BCG also found out that Germany is under average in using AI. The fear of innovation or change? Convenience? The unwillingness to leave the comfort zone? Or the worry to lose the proper job? Innovation can not be stopped. AI will find its way and companies will not renounce to use AI to automate and safe costs.
The earlier we face this fact the better we are prepared to reorganize our work.
Which are the areas that can and will be rationalized by AI?
AI can help save workforce costs in several ways, by optimizing operations and strategies, enhancing productivity, and automating routine tasks. Here are some of the key areas where AI contributes to savings:
- Automation of Routine Tasks
AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as data entry, basic customer inquiries, scheduling. This reduces the need for human intervention and sets free time for more complex tasks.
- Increased Efficiency and Productivity
AI tools and applications can analyse large datasets more quickly and accurately than humans, leading to faster decision-making and increased operational efficiency. This can result in a higher output with the same or even reduced workforce size.
- Reduction of Human Error
AI systems can perform certain tasks with precision and consistency, reducing the costs associated with errors and rework. In Manufacturing AI driven quality control can detect defects with higher accuracy than human inspectors.
- Predictive maintenance
In industries reliant on heavy machinery and equipment, AI can predict failures before they occur, reducing downtime and maintenance costs. By analysing data from sensors and machines, AI can identify patterns that precede equipment failures, allowing for preventive maintenance and avoiding costly unplanned downtime.
- Optimized Resource Management
AI can optimize the allocation of resources, including workforce scheduling, supply chain logistics, and energy consumption. For instance, AI algorithms can forecast demand more accurately, ensuring that staffing levels are optimized for anticipated business volumes, avoiding over- or understaffing.
- Customer Service
AI powered chatbots and virtual assistants can handle a wide range of customer service inquiries, providing 24/7 support without the need for a large customer service team. This leads to significant savings in costs.
- Talent Acquisition and Retention
AI can streamline and support the recruiting process by quickly identifying suitable candidates from a large pool of candidates.
- Training and Development
AI can deliver personalized training and development programs for employees, identifying skills gaps and recommending tailored learning paths. This approach is more cost effective and impactful than the traditional one-fits-all programs.
To summarize:
Roles around data entry, call centre, telemarketers, customer service, bookkeeping and accounting can be helped by AI. In manufacturing and production assembly line workers eventually will be completely substituted, especially in automotive and electronics, where precision and efficiency are paramount. Also, quality control tasks will be done mostly by AI. Cashiers and checkout, inventory stockers and warehouse workers will be automated completely. In transportation and delivery services, taxi drivers and chauffeurs, drivers in general may be eliminated. In banking and finance, dealing with data analysis, AI can substitute several functions. Online banking and AI driven interfaces are reducing the need for in-person banking services. Basic financial analysis like credit scoring and risk assessment can be done more efficiently by AI. The role of banks in general may completely vanish. In IT AI can resolve common issues. Entry role IT support roles will not be covered by humans. In journalism and writing AI can generate new reports on topics like sports results, financial summarizes, stock exchange, foreign currencies, weather forecasts. In the area legal and paralegal, document review and legal research can be done by AI. AI identifies relevant information faster than human paralegals.
Several basic tasks or tasks which have to do with big data procession and accuracy in different areas can already or will be done by AI in the future. AI controlled robots will take over healthcare, surgery, teaching at schools and probably also haircutting and cooking.
Even creative tasks can be done by AI like generating pictures, composing music, synchronizing a film.
What can AI not do?
Asking ChatGPT it says:” I don´t possess consciousness, emotions, or subjective experiences. My responses are generated on patterns in data and the programming logic designed by my developers. I can simulate a form of critical thinking by analysing information, comparing different viewpoints, and generating responses based on the vast amount of text data I have been trained on. However, this process lacks genuine understanding, intuition, or the ability to form opinions based on personal vales or experiences. My critical thinking is ultimately a sophisticated form of pattern recognition and text generation, designed to provide useful and relevant information based on the prompts I receive.”
As AI learns continuously and is continuously fed with data, it is imaginable that in the future the data collection is so vast, that a robot even recognizes emotions in a human being and that the field of patterns is so wide that nearly all human possibilities are included. Every job would be replaceable at that point.
The really important question is what do we want as human beings? Innovation could never be stopped unless by its proper technical, energetic, or material limits. This time humans have to decide consciously and proactively what they want for their lives, future generations, and the planet. AI does have a limit and will always have. Artificial intelligence is NOT human intelligence. Emotions will always be simulated as ChatGPT admits itself. Material has no senses and does not feel emotional energies or sensations in the context of social interactions, environments, or spiritual experiences. Material can only transmit “vibes” in the form of physical energy. When people attribute 'good vibes' to a place, object, or robot, they are anthropomorphizing the subject, confusing it with their subjective response to the environment or object, not describing a physical property of the material itself. A “vibe” is a human perception and interpretation, not a sensation sent out by inanimate materials.
The conclusion is that Artificial Intelligence will NEVER completely substitute Human Intelligence, the Human.
AI will some things do better than we are able to do. Some things.
We have to determine the level and quality of living and working, of interaction. We also have to be aware that AI is an immensely powerful tool, which can easily be exploited and applicated in a wrong and dangerous way by humans.
Instead of being afraid of AI and the future of our jobs, we need to subordinate AI, become proactive:
Start by analysing your job. What can AI do now, what can it do in the future? What can humans do better? What could or would you want to do instead of your actual job? It is important to be ahead of what occurs, to have a vision and will jobwise and in general:
- Stay informed
- Upskill and Reskill
- Embrace Flexibility and Adaptability
- Build a Strong Professional Network
- Consider Entrepreneurial Opportunities
- Enhance your Emotional Intelligence
- Prepare Financially for a Transition Process
- Explore Careers in AI and Technology
- Get Involved in Policy and Advocacy
- Develop Personally
Morgan Philips is ahead in defining roles and systemic structures, enhancing the human, supported by AI tools.
Morgan Philips Talent Consulting helps to analyse and assess, to become conscious and develop on an individual and organizational level.
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by Gabriele Kamps, PR & Communications Manager at Morgan Philips