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Technology & Enterprise With April Walker: A Q2 Chat About Artificial Intelligence And The Future At Hand
BLACK ENTERPRISE contributor April Walker challenges the Black community to look at Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the future.
Written By April Walker
You can't begin any discussions about technology and enterprise today, without addressing the juggernaut of topics – artificial intelligence (AI). AI is without question a variable that every business leader, government entity, and global mission has line of sight and focus on. Audacious and bold predictions that the future of everything will be impacted and affected by the influence of artificial intelligence (AI), to some may seem theoretically premature, yet conceptually if you read the latest headlines and news reports, it's certainly plausible. The acceleration and headways being made with this technology thus far depict that AI is and will in some measure or in its entirety be a part of everything that we as a global society will encounter. By all accounts the narrative is – there will be very few segments of our existence that will remain untouched by AI, and it will make everything better – does this sound like a dramatically utopian world is coming? Maybe, but perhaps not too far-fetched. So, what exactly is meant by everything? Well, I am referring to how we navigate the world. Specifically, how we will live, learn, and even how we love. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, I first want to provide context on a few fundamental terms before I explain my thoughts on these three areas. If you are curious about AI (as we all should be) – these are a few terms you should be familiar with, but know the AI list of terminologies is vast, so by no means should you consider this list exhaustive.
As an experienced AI practitioner, architect, engineer, educator, and evangelist, I'm often asked: "Where should one begin their AI journey of discovery?" Agreeably, there is so much information available now that the thought of gaining knowledge and grasping all the concepts of AI could become overwhelming to even think about. Trust me, even the most disciplined, well-intentioned, voraciously well-read straight-A student would find it a daunting undertaking to absorb it all. My counsel – take it slow – there is no need to boil the ocean or overload the available bandwidth of precious time trying to fill your brain with every nuanced white paper, blog, or article written about this topic – except for mine of course! Attempts to do so would be fruitless anyway, this technology is evolving so quickly the notion that we'll have to routinely expect to learn something new every day, appears to be the new normal. That said, you'd need to become a walking 'Large Language Model (LLM)' to comprehend it all – but don't get distracted by the introduction by what may be this 'new' term – I'll share more on LLMs in a minute – so keep reading!
A Brief History of AISimply put, AI can mimic human capabilities. A more refined definition equates to AI being a theory and development that computer systems can perform tasks normally required by human intelligence, i.E., such as communication, learning, and decision-making. These tasks can also include visual perception, speech recognition, and translation between languages, this represents the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines or computer systems. The birth of AI started between 1950-1956. Alan Turing, an English mathematician and computer scientist and often considered the father of modern computer science was famous for his work developing the first modern computers, decoding the encryption of German Enigma machines during the second world war, and detailing a procedure known as the Turing Test, forming the basis for artificial intelligence. He published "Computer Machinery and Intelligence" which proposed a test of machine intelligence called The Imitation Game. The actual field of AI research was founded at a workshop held on the campus of Dartmouth College during the summer of 1956.
Terminologies and Definitions.This next section should aid in deciphering and decoding this incredible technology and how it's evolving in everyday use. Intentionally absent from this are concepts such as ethical AI, bias and inequality, societal and economic ramifications, and analysis of wealth creation and conversely wealth gaps. AI has a direct impact on each of these areas and each concept will have material consequences for communities of color, thus, these topics merit comprehensive discussion and I will cover them in-depth in a future column, but for now, let's start with the fundamentals.
The concepts illustrated here depict the sheer magnitude of how today and well into the future AI influence will impact how we navigate the world. Living with and in the world of AI shouldn't cause fear but should embolden a global perspective that significant opportunities to improve the human condition exists. Imagine a future that consists of robots AI Advancement on How and What We Learn.
Traditional methods of learning that required sitting in an actual classroom with a teacher at the helm, thank goodness, have not been entirely replaced with the likes of online learning, (we still love our face-to-face interaction with teachers and the classroom experience). Today, a growing population of students reaching the farthest corners of the most impoverished communities globally can now obtain education through various means of virtual tools and resources. Artificial intelligence, by far, presents the most compelling and feasibly game-changing effect on how education could become accessible to a much larger audience than ever before. The dilemma – one must ponder, is this the universal goal, if not, why not? As a competitive advantage, every country and its leaders should be embracing the notion that competitive advantage lies with those whose communities are the most educated, innovative, and skilled – to disregard this as a non-societal imperative, is, well enormously and dangerously shortsighted.
Recognizing the growing economic precarity, business leaders are grappling with how to upskill their workforce for the future. The advent of GenAI is helping to free-up time-consuming and often mundane tasks in the workplace and as a result allowing employees to focus their time on other things and enterprise leaders to rethink and prioritize the most critical needs of their businesses and to drive growth. So, what does that mean in terms of the skills needed for the future – it will require a talent pool that is versed in the application of AI, digital literacy, and data analysis, to name just a few. The good news is that there are ample resources available to learn about AI and in many cases these training courses are available at no cost. Online education platforms such as edX and Coursera each provide self-paced options and offer a myriad of specializations and preparation for technical certifications.
The final theme – Love and AI.
Candidly conjuring up images of romantic interludes isn't exactly easily invoked in your mind when thinking about love and AI as conduits for achieving connection, but as strange as it may sound, there do exist plausible intersections between the two. Stay with me – it will make a lot more sense to some of you naysayers, very soon. Now I'm not suggesting that AI would serve as the proverbial wing man or woman, but [it] could in the very near future become the data-infused 'dating agent' that leverages profile data to assist with identifying viable matches on dating apps for example and could even be used by these very same apps to safeguard subscribers against potential risks – the benefits and use cases are endless. That said, privacy is always a big concern. Sharing of personal information is rampant and inescapable in the world of AI, striking the right balance between how much to relinquish and whom it is given should always be at the forefront of our minds. Trust is key! Knowing that companies entrusted with your data have unwavering policies and practices for protecting your personal information is evidenced through their willingness to be held accountable and responsible for storing and using this data. These companies should relentlessly pursue measures to maintain our privacy at all costs – this diligence should resemble the same approach to consider when choosing a soul mate or…. Just allow AI to do it for you!
RELATED CONTENT: Introducing Technology & Enterprise With April Walker: A Q1 Conversation About Tech
April Walker is a digital transformation expert, technologist, board member, published author, industry thought-leader, and C-suite advisor. A career spanning more than 30 years in STEM, April has held leadership roles in both the public and private sectors. She has been an executive leading global organizations and served as a catalyst for driving change, direction, and developing enterprise-wide and global strategies for digital transformation, technology, and innovation for Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, MetLife, and NBCUniversal, to name a few, and today, Aprilserves as Salesforce's Senior Vice President of Customer Success for North America.
A Manager's Playbook: Managing With Artificial Intelligence (AI)
So, you've heard of artificial intelligence. Most managers have. The question is, have you experimented with it, tried it, taken AI for a test spin?
Just in case you're still wondering what this term is all about, AI is a form of computer science that helps users access resources typically requiring human intelligence. Examples include problem solving, decision-making, perception and language understanding.
OK, that is the semi-official definition, generated in part by an application called ChatGPT. A more specific list of things you can do with AI includes:
— analyzing data (which you can upload) such as assisting in reviewing applications, resumes in the recruiting process, cost of goods sold;
— automating reports, real time, providing you with business information as its occurring (sales);
— customer service including chatbots (like those automated phone response services some companies use in place of a real, live human being);
— predictive analysis including forecasting sales, market trends, and the ability to optimize resources (such as planning for routine maintenance on machines to prevent downtime);
— automation of repetitive tasks (data entry), and even self-checkout at retail stores. And let's not forget self-driving cars;
— enhancing your supply chain by predicting disruptions, managing inventory levels;
— and risk management by identifying potentially fraudulent activities, and helping managers mitigate issues before they occur.
And that's just some of what AI can do for managers.
How does it work? It starts with a "prompt." That is, a question or statement you load into an AI app that triggers it to perform a task. Example: "tell me the key components of a job safety analysis (JSA)?" Or "how do I begin the process of strategic planning?"
The more specific the "prompt," the better AI can help provide you with a valuable response. And that leads us to what kind of artificial intelligence applications you should consider using. We'll start with — ChatGPT. To access this app, simply type Chat.Openai.Com in your browser (like Google). ChatCPT3.5 is displayed.
Once the application pops up, you can create an account by signing in. Submit an email address and create a password. In addition to this popular app, we use: Perplexity, Poe, Copilot and Claude. There are many, many more AI tools, apps, resources. Many applications you already use probably have an AI component including Facebook, Snapchat, Canva, and more.
What do artificial intelligence applications cost? It depends. For example, ChatGPT has both a free version (which is OK for many assignments) and a fee-based edition which can cost around $20 per month.
This is such a rapidly evolving topic that by the time this article is written and published it will already be outdated due to the speed of development (introduction) of new versions by companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, etc.
Now you're thinking … it might be time to check this AI revolution out. It really jumped on the business scene in early 2023, so if you are currently in a "wait-and-see" mode you're not that late to the dance. You can still get in at-or-near the ground floor.
How can using AI help you as a manager? Here are some things to add to your managers playbook:
1. Depending on the size of your organization, check with the tech services department. See if a specific AI app, like ChatGPT, is currently being loaded onto computers. Following company policy (many companies are developing a protocol on how AI can be used by employees) set up an account.
2. Google "How do I write a good prompt for AI tools". Follow the suggestions.
3. Pick a topic you'd like some help with (maybe a policy you need to write) and enter a prompt
4. Keep practicing. Once you get a response you like, copy and paste it into a Word document so you can save and print it.
Managers need artificial intelligence in their playbook. It will help "even the playing field". This new technology is developing so fast you really don't want to be left behind.
(For Questions or comments contact us at www.Amanagersplaybook.Com. John Stevens is a Professor at St. Bonaventure University and a Consultant. Brittany Thierman is an Adjunct Professor at SUNY Alfred State College and a small business owner.)
What Is Artificial General Intelligence, And Is It A Useful Concept?
If you take even a passing interest in artificial intelligence, you will inevitably have come across the notion of artificial general intelligence. AGI, as it is often known, has ascended to buzzword status over the past few years as AI has exploded into the public consciousness on the back of the success of large language models (LLMs), a form of AI that powers chatbots such as ChatGPT.
That is largely because AGI has become a lodestar for the companies at the vanguard of this type of technology. ChatGPT creator OpenAI, for example, states that its mission is "to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity". Governments, too, have become obsessed with the opportunities AGI might present, as well as possible existential threats, while the media (including this magazine, naturally) report on claims that we have already seen "sparks of AGI" in LLM systems.
How AI mathematicians might finally deliver human-level reasoning
Despite all this, it isn't always clear what AGI really means. Indeed, that is the subject of heated debate in the AI community, with some insisting it is a useful goal and others that it is a meaningless figment that betrays a misunderstanding of the nature of intelligence – and our prospects for replicating it in machines. "It's not really a scientific concept," says Melanie Mitchell at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.
Artificial human-like intelligence and superintelligent AI have been staples of science fiction for centuries. But the term AGI took off around 20 years ago when it was used by the computer scientist Ben Goertzel and Shane Legg, cofounder of…
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