Is our knowledge economy at risk of being outsmarted by AI?
AI skills are important in today’s knowledge economy – there’s no doubt about it. Roles requiring such abilities are growing 3.5 times faster than all other jobs combined, meaning that workers need to learn about AI to avoid falling behind their peers. This is especially true in the UK, where knowledge-intensive sectors like financial services, professional services, and technology dominate economic growth.
But, while three out of four people already use AI at work, they aren’t necessarily using such tools efficiently or effectively. They might be using chatbots for a bit of research here and there, or to reword an email, but they often aren’t leveraging it to its full potential. Not only will this affect their own productivity and even employability, but it could become a poisoned chalice for the future of our economy as a whole.
Humans are generally unimaginative with new technologies
For experienced technologists, AI is nothing new. Its conceptual foundations stretch back centuries, with the first AI computer programmes developed in the 1950s. Yet AI as we know it today looks very different, with the breakthrough launch of generative AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022 changing the landscape forever. Generative AI, which learns patterns in existing data to produce new and original content, remains a relatively new tool for most individuals and businesses. As a result, its usage is currently rather limited.
The average person may use AI to write a poem or explain basic concepts to their children, but they aren’t yet using it to its full potential at work. And businesses are missing out as a result; research from Harvard Business School in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group found that knowledge workers equipped with OpenAI’s GPT-4 Large Language Model (LLM) were 25% quicker at completing tasks, with a 40% increase in quality. This, during a time when the UK’s productivity leaves a lot to be desired, sitting in 2023 at 24% lower than it would have been if pre-2008 growth trends had continued.
Our reaction to generative AI is unsurprising. Historically, humans have initially been quite unimaginative with new technologies; video broadcasting was first used for radio shows, something that was already working well in an audio format. Today, the same lack of innovation often prevails, with workers using generative AI to write generic LinkedIn posts or impersonal all-staff emails. Instead of unlocking its potential, many knowledge workers merely outsource basic tasks to it, frequently achieving inferior results compared to their own potential output. To avoid falling foul to the age-old human response to new technologies, workforces must look to more radical use-cases.
Let’s send knowledge workers back to school
AI remains largely untapped as a productivity tool in most corporate settings. And, we could do a lot worse than taking inspiration from some teachers, who are already using AI creatively in education. For example, a Mathematics teacher in Stoke-on-Trent used Anthropic’s Claude LLM to create an interactive prototype that supports in lessons on projectile motion. In the Humanities space, Swedish entrepreneur Martin Balodis has developed the Hello History tool which allows students to speak with AI versions of historical figures.
The common thread in the education sector is that staff are encouraged to experiment with available AI tools to see how they can innovatively apply these tools to improve their teaching delivery – whilst remaining grounded in learning theory. This is where companies need to focus: delivering training on AI tools that is specific to their workers’ contexts. This should include opportunities to learn about the tools that workers have access to, examples of tasks that AI can support with, and meaningful reward for employees that attend such training sessions. Only by doing this can we translate current usage into meaningful productivity gains, both for individual businesses and the UK’s economy as a whole.
AI shouldn’t be seen as a threat to the UK’s status as a knowledge economy, but rather a tool to accelerate productivity and drive growth. At present, businesses are not fully exploiting AI’s potential, with additional training and encouragement needed for workforces to truly reap the rewards. To remain competitive on the world stage, especially in such a fast-moving environment, businesses must upskill their workers on AI, before it’s too late.
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