What Is Generative AI & How Can I Use It?

Generative AI is transforming the digital landscape by providing cutting-edge solutions and streamlining operations across all industries. Its integration into workplaces marks a new phase of enhanced productivity, creativity, and informed decision-making. For companies and teams, embracing generative AI is not just beneficial; it has become crucial for staying competitive and driving innovation forward. In this discussion, I delve into the core of Generative AI, its diverse applications in business environments, the significance of team proficiency with this technology, and a snapshot of ethical considerations.

What Defines Generative AI?

Generative AI involves machine learning algorithms aimed at generating data resembling a given dataset. Unlike rule-based algorithms that perform specific tasks, Generative AI algorithms take input data and produce new outputs not originally present in the dataset. This distinction is why it's known as Generative AI because it's creating outputs rather than just rearranging existing inputs.?

When discussing the field of Generative AI you’ll most likely hear its parts referred to as either models or applications. Generative AI models are the foundational frameworks needed for developing learning patterns from existing data to generate synthetic data. Generative AI applications are practical solutions that utilize these models for tasks, like content creation, image generation, or predictive text generation.

Generative AI encompasses a wide and growing range of artificial intelligence tools that can produce amazing content, solutions, and/or data with human-like insight and inventiveness. These AI systems analyze extensive datasets to grasp patterns, subtleties, and frameworks, empowering them to create outputs once thought to be exclusive to human intelligence – including text generation, image creation, video creation, coding tasks, and even music composition. This capability not only showcases the progress of AI but also unlocks new possibilities for creativity and operational efficiency.

Utilizing Generative AI in Professional Settings

The adaptability of Generative AI makes it a valuable resource across various industries. In sectors focused on creativity, it facilitates content generation tasks like writing articles or crafting visuals – significantly reducing the time, energy, and resources expended on these activities.

In the realm of software development, it speeds up the coding process by offering suggestions for enhancements, creating code snippets, and pinpointing possible bugs. This boosts both productivity and the quality of the end product.

Within customer service, generative AI can deliver personalized responses to queries, ensuring round-the-clock availability without compromising on interaction quality. Marketing also sees benefits as AI creates tailored content, ads, and strategies based on analyzing consumer data. This drives higher engagement and conversion rates.

These practical uses highlight how generative AI has the potential to revolutionize traditional workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and open up new creative avenues.

“I think about it as reducing the toil that people have to do today with a lot of repetitive mundane tasks, which increases job satisfaction but also boosts output.” - Chris Bedi ,? Chief Digital Information Officer at ServiceNow

Reasons Why Your Team Should Embrace Generative AI

The shift towards AI-centric business environments is happening now and it requires teams to become proficient in utilizing generative AI tools. Familiarity with such technologies enables teams to fully leverage AI's capabilities in streamlining workflows, developing innovative solutions, and making well-informed decisions. It nurtures a culture of ongoing learning and adaptability crucial in today's rapidly changing digital landscape. Furthermore, a grasp of generative AI empowers teams to spot opportunities for its application, anticipate potential obstacles, and contribute towards developing ethical and sustainable AI solutions.

You can now create your very own Gen AI expert that knows everything there is to know about your business. If you onboard a new sales agent, the agent can instantly know everything they need to know about their new role by simply and naturally interacting with this Gen AI virtual expert. That’s exactly what ServiceNow did to train their sales team.

“We indexed all the content and they could literally ask it any question, and the same applies to a virtual expert in IT, HR, Customer Service, the list goes on and on. We’re live on about 20+ use cases internally and we’re only getting started.” - Chris Bedi, Chief Digital Information Officer at ServiceNow

One of the biggest applications of Generative AI is employee productivity. ServiceNow performed a study that stated that, on average, employees spend 30% to 45% of their time on administrative tasks. In response, ServiceNow deployed a Gen AI that allows its employees to ask something in natural language. Gen AI understands the intent and 99% of the time the employee gets a Gen AI response.

“What we saw on the back end is a 14% reduction in the work that's coming to those back office departments and that's in about five months! So think about it. It’s only going to get better. Now the employees get their answers quicker so they’re more productive and effective, the back office is doing less of that mundane repetitive stuff so they can do other more strategic things. So we’ve applied that sort of rinse and repeat across any request or service organization” - Chris Bedi, Chief Digital Information Officer at ServiceNow

“Knowledge discovery is a huge problem in almost any company. Not just for employees who are onboarding... Say an employee is about to have a child and needs to know what they need to do with benefits. So it’s everything from answering questions like that to understanding how they need to do their work on a day-to-day basis that’s actually powered by this technology. I actually find that the bigger challenge is presenting AI and Gen AI as a means to augment work, whereas on the technical side, it sells itself.” - Sabry Tozin, VP - Engineering, LinkedIn

How to Begin to Integrate Generative AI in the Workplace

If you haven’t already started embracing this new form of technology then you’re already falling behind. Take time to research which departments would most benefit from Generative AI. Open the conversation up to the team. Give your team the tools they need to try it out. Regularly check in with them to see what they’ve learned. Ask, what did you try? What worked? What didn’t work??

We’ve reached a new frontier. AI is no longer reserved for a specialized tiny workforce. Everybody can start using it now to explore how it can benefit their department and/or position.?Hands-on experience is one of the most valuable strategies you can implement in helping your team build their skillset and understanding of the technology as a whole.

Ethical Considerations Surrounding Generative AI

As we welcome generative AI into our lives, ethical concerns come into focus. The capacity of AI to create content that mirrors human output raises questions about authenticity, copyright issues, and the risk of misuse.

It is crucial to use AI-generated content responsibly by being transparent about its origins and adhering to ethical guidelines. Define what that means in your organization and raise the question to your industry as a whole. Address any biases in AI algorithms to prevent the perpetuation of stereotypes or inequalities.

In conclusion, generative AI significantly advances our ability to innovate, create, and enhance efficiency across various domains. As we increasingly incorporate it into our work and creative processes, understanding its capabilities, applications and ethical considerations is vital. By approaching generative AI thoughtfully regarding its potential and challenges, your team can unlock new levels of productivity and creativity, ensuring they stay ahead in technological progress.

Written & Edited by Jonathan Keim

Rough Draft by ChatGPT

#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #Mindset #Entrepreneur