Generative artificial intelligence, also known as GenAI, is slowly maturing and 2024 heralds the year where this technology becomes more accessible and relevant to organisations. As the Economist says, “in 2024, the big beneficiaries will be companies outside the technology sector, as they adopt AI in earnest with the aim of cutting costs”. The technology’s intelligence and capabilities have evolved significantly, now providing companies with a stronger digital foundation from which to empower employees and decision-making.
As you can see from the image above by Bain & Company, AI has come a long way over the past six years. Uncannily accurate and capable, it has the potential to support organisations in their growth and customer engagement. The same analysis also highlighted some of the key use cases for generative AI that include:
- Hyper personalisation – already a key metric and engagement point for companies wanting to create a loyal customer base, AI can refine and hyper-localise marketing efforts at scale.
- Value-added services – using AI, companies can supercharge how employees innovate and connect with customers.
- Productivity revolutionised – AI is not here to replace, it’s here to ignite. Employees can set aside the heavy weight of admin, number crunching or data management, placing these tasks into the hands of AI while they focus on the results of the data and the work.
- Automation – whether this is within highly complex manufacturing environments or simply the automation of tasks and functions, AI can transform and optimise processes. As Bain points out, it can also democratise knowledge by automating knowledge tasks.
- Ignite innovation through data – using the data and insights gleaned through AI capabilities, companies can find new ways of working, find new markets, discover new proprietary solutions, and reimagine existing income flows.
AI is introducing fresh ways of doing business
Generative AI has also started to show some truly interesting flavours and applications. There’s AI-as-a-Service within the platform economy where companies can sell AI applications and services from within an ever-evolving ecosystem. Or bring your own AI (BYOAI), a digital step further from bring your own device (BYOD) that will see employees introduce fresh AI solutions and options into the business so they can enhance their own roles.
However, within this opportunity there lies risk. BYOAI presents the same shadow IT risk as BYOD as employees can introduce security vulnerabilities or AI-powered threats to the organisation. There is also one of the most pervasive risks that comes with AI – bias and the ethical implications of biased data.
When AI slips even deeper into the fields of health, finance and legal, the potential for damage increases significantly. As the Harvard Business Review points out, AI messing up a recipe isn’t anywhere close to as catastrophic as providing the wrong information about a court case or individual’s health record.
There is immense value in AI but it is a tool and, as such, it needs a well-defined framework within which it can operate successfully. This is where partners like Mint come in. We work with AI solutions that have a proven track record and deliver the right results within a framework of trust.
We understand how this technology has the potential to deliver immense value to your business. Within our stable of AI solutions, we have tools curated to meet unique industry and sector requirements and can help you step onto the AI train quickly and securely.
