Supercharging AI with Organizational Intelligence
By Jamison Antoine
Intelligence, whether human or artificial, is based on the ability to apply knowledge to the environment or think critically. As humans, we gain our knowledge through experiences with family, friends, formal education, and media. In the case of artificial intelligence, the software gains its familiarity through vast amounts of data fed to it and processed through machine learning.
Over the past few years, we’ve heard about the power and potential of AI to transform everything from healthcare to finance. We know that this software allows human beings to be more efficient and productive in both work and home environments. Yet, in our excitement about the technology and its ability to reduce the need for human involvement, we often forget that the software is there to serve human beings or groups of human beings.
For this reason, I believe business leaders should focus just as much on organizational intelligence as they do on AI software tools. How well do the individuals in the organization understand what they are trying to achieve in order to employ the right tools to get the job done? How informed are members of the organization about the methodologies used to train the AI tools they are using?
Some might argue they don’t need to know that—or care—as long as the job gets done. However, that type of thinking can be perilous when dealing with sensitive information, such as personally identifiable data or information related to race, ethnicity, or health.
The competency and comprehension of the entire business—not just the innovation team, IT, or marketing—is key to unlocking the full potential of AI. It doesn’t benefit the business if only one team is engaged while the others are just along for the ride. Training an entire organization on something that’s evolving so quickly is a daunting task but worth the investment.
Here are five ways that organizational intelligence can supercharge your artificial intelligence:
Threat Identification - The members of your organization can help you identify potential risks. This goes beyond your legal team. Think about your employee resource groups, finance, privacy teams, front line works and operations.
Cross Functional Training - Fosters opportunities for reverse mentoring and intergenerational collaboration within the organization. You don’t always need outside consultants or experts. Sometimes junior members of the organization are natives who can help with cross-training other parts of the business.
Governance & Policy - a critical area for organizations to determine how and when to employ artificial intelligence. Team members can establish the protocols for onboarding new tools and processes? They can seek ways to document the methodology in the event of a crisis or legal dispute.
Crisis Management - Members of the organization can outline the correct workflows and systems for when things go wrong. Scenario planning for the myriad of ways AI could fail is another opportunity to make use of the humans in the company.
Organizational Personalization - Train AI tools to make decisions based on your proprietary data rather than external information. The institutional knowledge that exists from white papers, rule books, presentations, one-sheets, websites, financial data, customer feedback, etc. can create a powerful body of information to utilize.
These are five opportunities to ensure that your use of AI is ethically sound, strategic and tailored to your organization's needs.