As news headlines frantically veer from “AI can help humans become more human” to “artificial intelligence could lead to extinction”, the fledgling technology has already taken on both heroic and villainous status in day-to-day conversation. That’s why it’s important to remain rational as we navigate the uncharted effects of AI. But by reviewing the evidence, it becomes clear that while the technology isn’t yet ready to transform the world, it can have a transformative impact on business in particular.
Looking at generative AI’s progress so far, we can see the potential for a workplace overhaul on a similar scale to the Industrial Revolution.
From idea generation to data entry, AI is already offering advanced productivity support to all types of workers. And when it comes to businesses’ bottom lines, McKinsey has found that companies using AI in sales enjoy an increase in leads and appointments of more than 50%, cost reductions of 40 to 60%, and call-time reductions of 60 to 70%.
The technology is all set to redefine how we do business. But first, we need to nullify the negatives and put the right rules in place.
The workplace AI revolution
Some of the positive outcomes that AI can bring to a business, like accelerated productivity and more informed decision-making, are already evident. But in terms of perceived negatives – from limiting entry-level jobs, to climate change, all the way up to “robots taking over the world” – we have the power to negate these dangers via the correct training, infrastructure, and regulation.
According to the World Economic Forum, AI will have displaced 85 million jobs worldwide by 2025. But it will also have created 97 million new ones, an exciting net increase.
My view, and that of Northern Data Group’s, is that AI’s impact on the workplace will be positive. We want to see more people in value-adding roles, who feel fulfilled about making a genuine impact at work rather than handling menial tasks. And, while AI will make almost everyone’s job roles simpler and faster to perform, its impact may be felt most greatly in the C-suite.
Longer-term strategies will benefit from AI’s stronger, more advanced insights and analytics that aid successful business decision-making.
Organisations will be able to make more informed decisions than ever before, and those who pioneer the use of AI in their boardrooms will see their market capitalisations swell as they consistently predict, meet, and exceed their customers’ expectations. But before businesses earnestly place their futures in AI’s hands, we need to review the technology’s regulatory progress.
Putting proper guardrails in place
Until now, AI law-making has been reactive to emergent technologies, rather than proactive, and questions remain around the responsibilities of regulation, too. While governments can promote equity and safety around AI, they might not have the technical know-how or speed of legislation to continuously foster innovation.
Meanwhile, though private organisations may have the knowledge, we might not be able to trust them to ensure accessibility and fairness when it comes to regulation. What we need is an international intergovernmental organisation, backed up by private donors and experts, that oversees a public concern and promotes innovation and progress within AI for all.
Until regulation is in place, it’s up to everyone to make sure that AI contributes positively to business and society – of which sustainability becomes a key concern. In terms of AI’s impact on the planet, we’re already seeing the worrying effect that improper infrastructure can have. It was recently announced that Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have jumped 48% in five years due to their use of unsustainable AI data centres.
At a time when we need to be urgently slashing emissions to meet looming 2030 and 2050 net-zero targets, many AI-focused businesses are sadly moving in the wrong direction.
We all need to be the change we want to see in the world: using renewable energy-powered data centres, harnessing natural cooling opportunities rather than intensive liquid cooling, recycling excess heat, and more. This holistic view of sustainability is what we as businesses must be moving towards.
How can business leaders prepare for these changes?
Firstly, businesses should review their AI infrastructure to meet existing and forthcoming regulations. Alongside data centre sustainability, there are numerous considerations for using AI in practice.
Data is fundamental to the provision of any AI service, and the volume of data required to train models or generate content is vast. It needs to be good-quality data that’s been prepared and orchestrated effectively, securely and responsibly. Increasingly, data residency rules also mean organisations need to store and process data in particular regions.
Once proper regulation, sustainability practices, and data sovereignty are all in place, the innovations that early AI-adopting companies bring to market will quickly trickle down into industries, in turn inspiring more innovative AI platform creation.
AI is already making life-changing impacts in sectors like healthcare, with the Gladstone Institutes in California, for instance, developing a deep-learning algorithm that opens up new possibilities for Alzheimer’s treatment. Gartner has gone so far as to predict that more than 30% of new drugs will be discovered using generative AI techniques by 2025. That’s up from less than 1% in 2023 – and has lifesaving potential.
Ultimately, whatever a business is trying to achieve with AI – be it a large language model (LLM), a driverless car or a digital twin – the sheer amount of data and sustainability considerations can often feel overwhelming. That’s why finding the right technology partner is an essential part of any successful AI venture.
From outsourcing compute-intensive tasks to guaranteeing European data sovereignty, start-ups can collaborate with specialist providers to access flexible, secure and compliant cloud services that meet their most ambitious compute needs. It’s the most effective way to secure a positive, successful AI-first business future.
- Data & AI
- Digital Strategy
