AI in business: the human skills you need
We’re seeing a large increase in Artificial Intelligence (AI) utilization across business internationally. It’s seeping into our day-to-day work through hiring processes, training programs, everyday tasks, and more. Organizations are realizing that if their teams are not up to speed on AI technology, then they risk falling behind.
Leaders now see digital literacy as a vital skill in all fields. However, digital literacy is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to skills necessary to work alongside AI. Let’s look below the surface to learn what you need to know when working with AI.
AI is the tool, people are the artisans
Digital literacy has been an important skill for the progression of companies for years, and organizations that lack the personnel with this skill have fallen behind.
Digital literacy has known different definitions as the technology landscape has changed over time. The latest being AI efficiency. AI is a more advanced technology than we’ve ever seen and has immense capabilities. AI can be a powerful tool, but with great power comes great responsibility. There are skills that go hand-in-hand with digital literacy that are needed to ensure AI is used properly, efficiently, and safely.
1. Effective interpersonal skills
There are some things that AI can’t compete with. Our ability to express emotion (and remove ourselves from emotion), understand context, practice mindfulness, communicate effectively, and think critically are just a few. These are vital skills that businesses are built on.
AI is a great tool, but many researchers and technology leaders will strongly emphasize the importance of personal touch and human connection – something AI will never be able to replace – to a businesses’ growth. AI should be a component of a business, not the entire blueprint.
2. Human Experience
With AI, you can look up any question imaginable and have an answer within seconds. However, without the domain experience that the worker holds, it may generate false information. AI is based on historical data, and many things are constantly evolving. This means the information you’re fed may not always be entirely correct.
It’s in these circumstances that having domain experience is important. You will know your environment better than AI ever will. Your goals, who you’re working with, and how operations are carried out. You will know these on a level that cannot be replicated through data. It’s up to you to verify the data given, its relevance to you and your organization, and use your critical thinking skills to know how to use it to your advantage.
It’s important to preserve this knowledge and pass it along the inexperienced workers to keep some form of authenticity and uniqueness alive.
The risks of losing these skills
There’s a fear that future working-class generations won’t learn these skills. It’ll be an issue if workers don’t know how to analyze the information they’re given and can’t make meaningful, personal connections themselves. However, it also poses a bigger problem – what will they do if AI fails?
Undeniably, there are many faults with technology. Faults that need to be fixed by their controller, the people behind the screens. If AI, or the internet in general, experiences issues, the person behind the screen needs to take over. Consequently, if that person lacks domain knowledge or the interpersonal skills needed to help a business flourish, the business risks failure, too.
When you let technology do everything without learning about the why’s and how’s behind it, then you can’t expect to be successful when it’s gone. You need to be prepared to take control if you need to take your business off autopilot (AI) and steer it yourself.
Addison Group believes in personal relationships. That’s why our matches are made in human – not AI. We have more than 20 years of hiring experience and a talent pool full of candidates who have both the digital literacy skills and the interpersonal skills needed to help your business flourish. Contact us today.
