ChatGPT, AI-powered Productivity tools, and Employee Development

Salesforce, the company behind workplace communication and productivity tool Slack, has partnered with OpenAI to launch a ChatGPT integration for the messaging app. Microsoft has also announced the synchronization of ChatGPT with its Azure OpenAI Service and its Dynamics applications. There is also the recent announcement of the addition of AI to both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. These partnerships will bring a new way of working to light, and businesses that want to maintain an edge in the marketplace will have to embrace it. However, questions have arisen about how it will affect the development of people in the workplace.

The integration of ChatGPT with Slack will enable employees to get rapid summaries of chats, as well as tools to help with speedier research and message drafting to peers. It is also believed that it will make task completion faster and allow more work to be done in less time. This suggests increased efficiency. However, the effectiveness of the technology will depend on the desired outcome. Should we prioritize winning in the market regardless of how, or should we prioritize winning in the market and with our people?

When it comes to workplace productivity and improving business outcomes, research has shown a positive correlation, and McKinsey recently conducted a study aimed at modeling the potential effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the global economy. The five major technologies classified under AI are computer vision, natural language, virtual assistants, robotic process automation, and sophisticated machine learning. According to their analysis, 70% of organizations may have adopted at least one category of AI technology, with less than 50% fully integrating all five categories. The potential impact of AI on worldwide economic activity could be worth roughly 13 trillion dollars by 2030. This possible impact would result from enhanced productivity and other channels linked with AI implementation.

However, we must also consider the impact of AI on employees. If employees have to fully depend on AI tools to get work done, it may be a sign that they need help developing abilities to be functional and not overly dependent on these tools. A recent study examines the effects of automation on employment from two opposing perspectives. The first emphasizes the productivity effect of automation, which leads to increasing product demand and higher employment, whereas the second sees automation as primarily killing jobs with the potential to reduce human activity to a state of total dependency on AI.

Speaking of the latter, conversational AI is likely to bring mistakes, bias, and plagiarism when used for specialized research and specialized work. This is important to note because employees must be capable of spotting bias and mistakes or risk-taking everything the technology suggests as total truth, reducing the potential for more research and more intentional work that involves the genuine human ability to discern right from wrong and the ability to have foresighted thinking.

Late adopters of AI may fall behind in terms of establishing skills and attracting personnel, and AI is likely to have diverse effects on different organizations, employees, and countries, making it more difficult to maximize its benefits. The consequences of AI will emerge at varying speeds for different countries, organizations, and employees rather than in a straight line. Artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly impact global economic activity, but in order to realize this potential, we must address the growing disparities that exist between countries, enterprises, and workers.

It is important to understand the true cost of AI tools. The cost is mostly not calculated in monetary terms. It is far more costly in terms of the potential of our people and whether they are really growing and developing and not overly dependent on AI tools like ChatGPT. While ChatGPT may be useful for generating useful assistance for work, it takes a skilled mind that knows what questions to ask and is capable of discerning right from wrong answers to use that data effectively. Most importantly, employees must understand the why behind a task and use an ethical how to get the job done.

World Economic Forum suggests that instead of becoming obsolete, individuals should collaborate with AI by using it to supplement their skills and automate routine tasks. This frees up time for humans to focus on skills that machines do not possess, skills and competencies like the implementation of business strategy, complicated problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and empathy. Checking dependencies on AI-enabled tools can be done using AI tools that detect if a text was generated by humans or machines. However, focusing on employee development and training them to use AI with integrity, openness, and honesty is a better approach than engaging in an arms race between AI chatbots and detectors. This ensures that productivity is not solely dependent on the tool but also on the person using it and caring for the development of their mental, functional, and physical abilities to help create positive business outcomes.