People First, AI Last?

In the rush to embrace artificial intelligence, many organizations are eager to become "AI-First." However, Cassie Kozyrkov, CEO of Data Scientific, and former Chief Decision Scientist at Google, warned in a recent post that adopting AI for its own sake often leads to misguided implementations that fail to address true business needs. When AI becomes the end goal rather than a means to solve critical problems, organizations risk losing sight of their core objectives.

Like many others here on LinkedIn, I'm a big fan of Cassie's insights, and her post, while also promoting her recorded webinar "Safely Getting Started on GenAI" , she advocates for

Focusing on automating core business processes, even those previously considered too complex for automation. This approach encourages companies to tackle significant challenges that drive real business value, rather than just addressing small, tedious tasks.

While AI may often be part of the solution to these impactful problems, it should only be applied with clear intention and purpose.

The Amplified Human Powered by AI

This got me curious and looking into other such perspectives, and I came across a medium article by Nicky Verd , author and digital transformation thought leader, emphasizing how technology can amplify human potential rather than replace it. In her article, “The Amplified Human: Powered by AI ,” Verd discusses the importance of keeping the human element at the forefront of AI adoption. She stresses that

Successful digital transformation requires putting people at the center, empowering employees, and actively engaging them throughout the process.

Verd noted that digital transformation goes beyond technology alone. It represents a paradigm shift that impacts every aspect of an organization's functioning. By adopting a human-centric approach, companies can ensure that technology serves people, not the other way around. She outlines seven pillars of human-centric digital transformation, including understanding employee needs, empowering staff with technology, enhancing customer experience, fostering teamwork, cultivating innovation, measuring success beyond ROI, and upholding ethical considerations.

How AI Can Usher in a People First Economy

Another great article Navin Chaddha , Managing Partner at Mayfield Fund , advocates for a people-centered approach to AI in his weforum.org article “How AI can usher in an economy that puts people first .” He emphasizes that while AI has the power to transform the economy, companies have a responsibility to ensure this transformation is positive. He argues that AI should augment human abilities rather than replace them, much like how previous technologies have created new job opportunities instead of solely eliminating roles.

One of many excellent perspectives, he stresses that

Everyone in business has a role in making AI a force for good. He encourages companies to approach AI with motivations that align with social and ethical accountability, rather than just financial incentives.

Entrepreneurs, in particular, should focus on building trustworthy companies from the start, keeping trust and safety at the forefront. This involves addressing issues like transparency, data privacy, and bias, which are crucial for fostering trust in AI systems.

Risks of an AI First Strategy

Earlier March this year Oguz A. Acar , Chair in Marketing at King's Business School, King's College London, wrote an HBR article titled "Is Your AI-First Strategy Causing More Problems Than It’s Solving ?" According to Acar, like Cassie, prioritizing AI as the ultimate strategic focus often results in AI solutions being deployed across business operations without necessarily addressing genuine organizational or customer needs. When AI becomes an end in itself, companies often end up with AI solutions looking for problems or, worse, creating new issues.

He cites Uber's use of AI-generated images on their delivery app as an example. While AI-generated images might seem innovative, they often fail to represent the actual food, creating unrealistic expectations for customers. This demonstrates how AI can be applied without solving the real problem at hand providing an accurate visual experience for consumers.

Moreover, he points out that

An AI-First approach can create challenges within internal company infrastructure. Many organizations lack the necessary IT capabilities to support ambitious AI applications, leading to hasty and under-resourced implementations. Without solid infrastructure, AI initiatives are likely to falter.

Adopting an AI-First approach also risks sidelining human considerations. By prioritizing AI, companies may inadvertently signal to employees that they are secondary to technology, creating a sense of alienation or even fear about job security. Academic studies have shown that when algorithms are used for performance management, employees often feel less motivated to collaborate or assist their peers. In the long run, the misuse of AI can weaken the very organizational culture that companies depend on to succeed.

Insights from Anthropic's Approach to Responsible AI

Anthropic, a rapidly growing AI company, provides an excellent example of how organizations can balance innovation with responsibility. In a recent talk I attended, Daniela Amodei , Co-founder and President of Anthropic , highlighted the company's commitment to responsible AI development. Anthropic's approach emphasizes the importance of substantial funding and top-tier talent , particularly recruiting physicist PhDs, to build an AI company that's both transformative and safe.

Anthropic's focus on AI safety aligns with the need for ethical guidelines in AI development.

The company's concept of Constitutional AI provides ethical guardrails for their models, addressing the crucial issue of aligning AI capabilities with human intentions. This approach resonates with the growing awareness of the AI alignment problem, which emphasizes the importance of ensuring AI systems behave in ways that are beneficial and aligned with human values.

Anthropic's proactive stance on AI regulation reflects the evolving landscape of AI governance. When I noted that the EU's AI Act is currently more advanced than U.S. regulations , she highlighted the need for businesses to stay informed about and adapt to emerging regulatory frameworks. This aligns with the increasing focus on privacy and data protection in AI development, as companies strive to create AI applications that respect user privacy while delivering valuable services.

Anthropic's exploration of specialized AI applications, such as doctor-patient summarization, demonstrates how AI can be applied to enhance human capabilities in specific domains. By leveraging internal instances of their AI assistant, Claude, Anthropic is working towards achieving human-level performance in these applications while maintaining a strong commitment to privacy and structured data extraction.

A Balanced Approach of People First, AI Assisted

Back to Cassie's post which received lots of great feedback and comments: David Schonbrun, Gen AI Leader at IBM, aptly noted that setting up AI governance before using AI is what leading AI-First organizations do. Without proper oversight, companies risk deploying AI solutions before they have a solid framework in place, leading to unintended consequences. Marc Streefland, an AI Solutions Specialist, adds that being AI-First doesn't mean adopting every shiny new tech innovation. It's about timing and focus, knowing when AI genuinely adds value and when it doesn't. This forms the foundation of a "People First, AI Assisted" approach.

Not surprisingly at Acceldata , we embrace this philosophy for our enterprise #dataobservability platform. Our use of AI is designed to accelerate and automate processes with a human in the loop, not to replace human oversight or decision-making. We believe that technology should serve people, enabling them to achieve more without relinquishing control.

By focusing on strategic, meaningful AI use, we're not just leveraging cutting-edge technology we're unlocking new capabilities and redefining what's possible, always with a people-centered approach.

The balanced approach of "People First, AI Assisted" ensures that AI remains a powerful tool to augment human efforts, rather than an unchecked force driving organizations. At its best, AI can serve as a trusted copilot, helping to navigate complex challenges while maintaining a strategic focus on core values and ethical considerations. By keeping people at the forefront of AI development and implementation, companies can harness the transformative power of AI while ensuring it remains a valuable assistant in our journey forward, providing sustainable success, that not only drive productivity and efficiency but also align with ethical standards and human values.

Other great reads on this subject:

https://timoelliott.com/blog/2024/02/want-to-optimize-ai-put-people-first.html

https://www.businessleader.co.uk/a-people-first-approach-to-ai-adoption/

https://workforce-resources.manpowergroup.com/blog/navigating-the-ai-revolution-insights-and-strategies-for-a-people-first-approach