Machine Learning: The Heart of Seismic Productivity and Savings
Online TV and video platform Netflix has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, to the point where its name is synonymous with binge-watching and great U.S. dramas. What many don’t know, however, is that according to McKinsey, the pioneering management consultancy, Netflix saved almost $1 billion in lost revenue by using machine learning (a form of artificial intelligence) to make personalised recommendations. The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is already making a bottom line impact to a plethora of companies across various industries, and machine learning, in particular, is used to drive a lot of that change. Life in the workplace will change slowly but surely as we adapt to a hybrid manner of working where human intelligence works alongside AI to create more successful workplaces and spaces.
Datasets Changing How Human Resources (HR) Operates
Sushman Biswas, a HR technologist, whilst presenting an overview of the way in which AI will impact the HR dimension of work, focussed on three key aspects of HR that he felt would be transformed by the new application of technology to this sector: background verification, employee attrition, and career personalisation. Predictive models that are powered by machine learning algorithms that can not only recognise the patterns detailed within the program, but can learn based on the provided data to look out for similar data, is what gives machine learning the power to create efficiencies within HR processes.
Industry-Specific Application of Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence will not only impact workstreams within the workplace (such as HR) but also across industry-specific areas in quite unique ways. Harald Golles, CTO of omni:us, thinks “AI solutions will have the most impact on service economy industries,” and he specifically singles out the financial services sector as one most impacted industries of all. Applications within this sector range from AI-powered virtual assistants (such as the Bank of America’s ‘Erica’ assistant) through to Big Data algorithms being used to eliminate cyber crime related to credit cards.
Preparing for the Big Data/AI revolution
With the extremely rapid nature of the change that AI and Big Data algorithms are bringing to the workplace (with as many as one in five set to have an AI-based co-worker by 2022), how can organisations ensure that employees are kept engaged and onboard?
Two key points are essential to bear in mind whilst developing an increasingly data-driven strategy in your workplace. Firstly, consider your employees as full partners and stakeholders in the change. Engage with them and check in with them regularly during the change process (through surveys and specific meetings). Secondly, be transparent about the whole process. If it’s about greater productivity, then let them know, as they will appreciate being involved in the strategic deployment of AI within the workplace.
From small to medium-sized enterprises through to larger corporations such as Netflix, AI and Big Data applications in the workplace look set to rapidly increase over the next decade. This change will come across specific workstreams as well as in industry-specific sectors, with a myriad of uses from AI-powered chatbots to diagnosing various diseases based on hospital scans. Preparing for the change is key, and fully involving staff members in the change is essential to the success of AI and Big Data in the workplace.
Author: freelance writer Lucy Wyndham
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