#232 Part II - AI At The Core?

The point was really brought home to me in the example of this year’s Nobel Prize awards. They say that you won't lose your job to AI but you might lose it to a human who works with AI. Nobel Prize aspirants this year might reflect on that neologism. As you may know, Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield won the Nobel Prize for physics while Demis Hassabis, John Jumper, and David Baker won the chemistry Nobel Prize. Four of the five are actually Computer / AI Scientists, who are neither physicists, not chemistry researchers. Only David Baker qualifies as a pure science researcher.

Winning the Nobel Prize isn't a 'job' or the operating model of any organisation, but it's definitely a seminal moment as it means that breakthrough research can be done by AI Researchers in fields they may not actually be experts in. This should cause the research community to pause and reflect. And at a broader level every one of us who believe that actually our job requires some great human capability should think more deeply about what it is that we do that can't be done by an AI (or a combination of AI tools) in future. Specifically, we should focus on the most valuable parts of our work and how we can stay ahead, or become the person that uses AI and our existing competence to get further ahead.

Organisationally speaking, pharmaceutical or materials companies who depend on research, must already be quite committed to using AI to keep them ahead of the game. If they didn’t they would be sitting ducks for disruption. I also heard one of our clients speaking at the recent TCS summit about how the design of new molecules used to take 10 years but now takes two, thanks to their AI solutions.

In Part I of this piece I wrote about the need for philosophical reflections in the age of AI. But what does it mean for organisations? Well the translation of that introspection in the organisational context is a reflection of what's at the core of your differentiation. For example I heard a long time ago that 3M's core strength was it's knowledge of adhesive and abrasive surfaces. This is what differentiates 3M. So what's your core differentiator?

If there’s somebody out there who has an AI solution that can do better what you consider your core differentiator, it’s really time to worry. You need to find a way to get better, or partner, or find an alternative differentiator, else you’re heading for disruption. As an analogy, think of a retailer focused on the convenience of shopping in a world before Amazon Prime.

If you have your own AI in your core area of differentiation - you should double down on it - cannibalise your own business (before others catch up), and extend your lead over the competition. Or if your human based capabilities are ahead of any AI (yes, I know, this is a contradiction to the ‘AI can do everything’ premise) - then keep investing in it or use this knowledge and expertise to create your own advanced AI model.

But if there are great AI tools and AI based businesses that can do a great job of things which are not at the core of your business/ proposition, then don’t fret. Partner, outsource, and take advantage of the value in those models. Needless to say, if it’s non core and there is no AI model in sight, just wait till one comes along, and for the purposes of this conversation, ignore.

The bottom line is with the power of AI, we'll see a new generation of disruptive companies just as we did with the internet or the smart phone. The disruption will not happen at the edge, but at the core of existing business models, so the challenge is for incumbents to reinvent themselves before the disruptive wave hits.