Don’t be afraid of an AI-powered future. Be afraid of getting stuck in the past

We’ve all seen the stats: a million users after just five days. 100 million users after just two months. But what’s next for ChatGPT? And more importantly, what’s next for us?

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The large language model from @OpenAI has taken the world by storm after being launched late last year – with its staggering adoption rate giving it a strong claim to the snappy title of ‘fastest-growing consumer application in history’. As a subset of the generative AI platform, ChatGPT is a big step ahead of the predictive AI tools that have been around for several years. So you can forget pre-scripted conversations! Having been fed with an enormous quantity of written material, ChatGPT can turn the data it’s been trained on into almost any text you care to ask it for. And it’ll all be neatly packaged up with a human-like level of sophistication.

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Almost everyone I’ve spoken to about ChatGPT has been impressed, even if reluctantly. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t also concerned about the impacts of generative AI, in our workplaces and beyond. So what does the future hold?

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Gazing into the crystal ball

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I’ll let you into a little secret: at @Avanade, we’ve been working closely with our parent company @Microsoft on AI – including generative AI – for years now. And the past few months have seen us bring to life some exciting generative AI projects with a range of clients. Indeed, we have more hands-on experience on the topic than most. But I’ll freely admit that I have no idea exactly what the generative AI landscape will look like in five years’ time.

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One thing’s for sure: generative AI will be infused through every aspect of our daily lives. So, even if I can’t predict the future, I can least at share some useful advice, based on what we’ve learnt about this technology in recent years.

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Don’t stick your head in the sand

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First and foremost, businesses need to learn to work with this new technology, not against it. History is littered with cautionary tales about people or groups that ultimately harmed their own interests by resisting disruptive advancements (consider Kodak’s fear of the digital photography revolution).

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I believe that resistance to generative AI is not only futile, but detrimental. After all, there’s so much value it can add to a company’s operations, its customers, its partners, and more – so keep an open mind. Remember, generative AI is not a replacement, but an aid that can help increase efficiencies.

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Dare to fail

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So my second piece of advice is to start experimenting sooner rather than later. Learning what doesn’t work (yet) for your business is just as important as finding out what does. Whether you’re testing out the potential of ChatGPT or looking into developing your own generative AI solutions, it’s time to act – with one important caveat …

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Put the right supports in place

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And that is: use generative AI responsibly. That means everything from ensuring the security and privacy of sensitive data to factoring in the environmental footprint of this technology. From understanding how it can be inaccurate, biased or discriminatory to respecting copyright laws and other regulations. And even just making sure that employees’ jobs, skills and experience aren’t shut out of this new landscape.

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From our work with clients, it’s clear that the most successful adopters are those that have developed a framework or policy around the use of generative AI – and I’d urge any businesses that haven’t to make that a priority.

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Cut through the hype with Avanade

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New to AI? Don’t worry: as I mentioned above, we at Avanade aren’t. With our expertise and experience in generative AI, not to mention all things Microsoft, we’re working closely with customers to harness the latest tech and add value to their businesses – leveraging our experience and end-to-end services spanning everything from advice to implementation to aftercare.

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We may not know exactly what’s next for generative AI. But by seizing the opportunities it offers, we can give ourselves a better chance of finding a positive answer to that bigger question: what’s next for us?

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Send me a message if you want to discuss the possibilities of AI for your business – or head to our website to learn how our teams can help you rise above the hype ?? https://www.avanade.com/en/solutions/analytics-and-ai/artificial-intelligence/generative-ai

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