You can't spell Gaslight without AI
The modern desk heater.
AI can do a lot for us, from automating repetitive tasks to providing high-fidelity images and video content that no human being would otherwise waste their time creating. It's the mullet of enterprise software: Business in the front, don't worry about what's happening in the back.
However, not all of AI's business utility will result in workers being turbo-charged to accomplish more and/or deliver faster. Let's be honest with ourselves: If people can do more, then we don't need as many of them doing the same job.
What does Gyroscope have to do with it?
Upskilling and reskilling
Upskilling requires skills that are transferrable from one job to the next. If you work in a coal mine, there are certain aspects of what you do for a living that translate to other types of mineral extraction, such as oil or natural gas. Yet domain knowledge and experience isn't necessarily translatable within an industry. You would likely struggle in an entry-level position at a solar energy company.
Someone whose job has been eliminated by AI will likely need to Reskill. Reskilling is a fancy word for learning, ideally learning by doing, delivering value, or earning a salary.
The jobs lost by utilizing AI aren't 1:1 with the types of jobs that AI will create. Doing a cursory search will reveal that new jobs include:
-Train data to ensure accuracy
-Clean data to ensure accuracy
-Implement the data model to deliver value
-Monitor the data model to ensure effectiveness
-Prompt Engineering
Most people can't become Prompt Engineers overnight; few can make that transition, regardless of their technical knowledge and experience. Before applying AI solutions that seek to solve problems, it makes sense to consider the costs and benefits. Is headcount reduction in the short term a good idea when domain knowledge erodes or vendor relationships suffer when co-workers become former employees?
Gyroscope works with organizations to weigh the benefits of implementation and co-creates strategies to deliver value with AI. We manage change for clients to drive outcomes that use automation.
Job Creation
I love hearing, ' We couldn't have expected a role like social media manager in the early days of the internet,' as a rationale for creating jobs using AI at scale. AI can somewhat replace that job today through automation powered by a series of services.
Business decisions still require a human, but that human may be responsible for more than social media management tomorrow. Does AI make them more effective by driving higher-quality outcomes, or does it enable them to take on more tasks?
Before using AI, it is important to understand if business goals can be achieved using the technology. If the KPIs are aligned with what AI can deliver, they will be achievable. Gyroscope specializes in building roadmaps that consider the complexities and impacts of automation.
Human Capital
Our collective obsession with Gen AI, in particular, has reduced the value of human capital at an awful time. Inflation has gone up, slowing the economy as intended. Earning the same income results in less money to spend, while the value provided at work is under higher scrutiny.
If this sounds familiar and stressful, you aren't alone. It is a challenge to get staff to utilize AI tools while recognizing that they still need to be improved. Introducing new technology requires iteration, advocacy, and enablement.
Gyroscope is dedicated to learning and teaching. The tooling landscape is evolving quickly, and we are always learning about new methods. We teach individuals to learn the tools while using them--we don't implement the tools to replace individuals.
Both Disease and Cure
So, AI comes in to help people with more work to do because AI eliminates the need for more people to do the job. Read that sentence again because that is the cycle we are in today. This cycle is akin to working with the co-worker who replaced your closest work buddy, except this replacement isn't even human.
It makes sense that people are dubious of AI claims in light of the scenario outlined above. AI is challenging and costly to implement, so organizations are further stressed to make it work to their advantage. Organizations typically need to change how they work to leverage new technology. The question is how disruptive technology is to processes and culture.
Gyroscope is a group of individuals with decades of experience leveraging emerging technology. We manage technology transitions and consider culture to drive outcomes.
In theory
We will always need specialists to deliver narrow value in their areas of expertise. We will always need generalists who are good at doing many things, often in parallel. AI will allow generalists to address more tasks or enable them to become specialists in one area of their field. AI will enhance specialists' ability to deliver value with higher degrees of focus, no longer distracted by operational tasks.
As we gain experience in the workforce, many of us find an area in which we can specialize. Intellectual curiosity, competition, technology, and revenue all influence our decisions. We recommend looking at how AI can give us more time to cultivate skills and grow expertise in topics we are passionate about.
Gyroscope combines knowledge of AI with experience in education and design to work with organizations and apply automation that benefits employees and drives efficiency.
In reality
AI isn't a panacea. It has incredible potential, so much so that it can spread bias and distort our perceptions of what is and is not real without guardrails. Plus, implementing AI takes time and effort to ensure it doesn't give us incorrect answers. So, like most enterprise software, it's not cheap, easy to work with, or perfect. AI's challenges are not as unique as its value.
No single technology can address organizational challenges, drive growth, reduce customer churn, improve job satisfaction, and prevent competition. Asking for a powerful yet imperfect technology people aren't instructed to use will cause anxiety in any workforce. It already has. AI is improving at incredible speed but still requires guidance to deliver value.
Technology is inherently complex and often requires outside vendors to deliver. Pick your partners wisely.