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Generative AI (or GenAI or simply AI) has emerged as a helpful and now ubiquitous tool in the workplace. It can complete numerous things: from streamlining workflows to automating repetitive tasks to crafting personalized content. This gives you and your employees time to focus on strategic and creative endeavors, refining strategies, and fostering client relationships.
But here's the catch—while AI can enhance productivity (up to 40% compared with people who don’t use it), relying on it as a replacement for strategic areas like content creation, HR, customer support, and project management is a misstep. It is a valuable tool and can be part of an overall strategy, not a replacement for strategy.
Content creation is a time-consuming aspect of any business. AI can help by producing outlines of emails, ebooks, or blogs, brainstorming and generating ideas and personalizing content for different audience segments. This assistance can make a big difference in reducing turnaround times.
However, AI-generated content does not effectively replace human content creators. It still requires human oversight and editing to ensure AI-generated content aligns with your brand's voice and message and doesn't venture into the realm of "sophisticated mediocrity," as Robert Rose points out in his article "Creative People Aren't Wicked Problems to Solve":
"Yes, they [companies who only use AI] are producing more content than ever—they've succeeded in creating efficiency in producing content at scale. And the content they create? It's average. It's neither bad enough nor good enough to be remarkable. It's just average.
And it's leading us into an age of sophisticated mediocrity."
Sophisticated mediocrity comes from an overreliance on AI, leading to content that lacks personalization and doesn't have the human touch that makes writing relatable to your audience.
While Generative AI can perform specific tasks, it lacks the understanding and emotional intelligence people bring to the table. HR and customer support are rooted in human interaction, empathy, and strategic thinking. These areas require understanding employee and customer needs, organizational culture, and the ability to build genuine relationships – elements AI cannot replicate.
And even though by 2025, 80% of B2B interactions will use some form of AI or digital technology to boost productivity and enhance the customer experience, HR and customer support will continue to thrive on real connections and insights.
For example, AI can assist with candidate screening and answering basic HR questions, but relying on AI for the hiring of new employees can lead to otherwise qualified candidates’ applications being rejected due to either conscious or unconscious bias in the data the AI hiring software is trained on. The human element is important in screening potential new employees, conducting interviews, understanding culture fit, and managing employee relations.
In customer support, AI can handle routine questions and provide instant responses, but if a customer has a complex issue or needs to speak to someone, AI cannot replace a person’s empathy and problem-solving skills.
The key to leveraging this tool lies in balance and using it to complement your team's capabilities, not replace them.
Integrate AI-driven insights and automation into your processes, but ensure that human expertise guides the strategic direction. This approach allows you to use AI's full capabilities while maintaining the human elements that drive business success.
Consider project management. AI can automate scheduling, assigning tasks, and progress tracking, but project leaders best understand team dynamics, how to motivate people, and what judgment calls to make based on nuanced project requirements. Successful project management requires human insight, leadership, and adapting to changing circumstances.
Generative AI is a tool that can enhance productivity and support certain areas of your business. However, it is not a standalone strategy. The true value of Generative AI lies in its ability to complement human efforts.
As we navigate this new landscape, it's important to also focus on the elements that make our businesses unique and successful. AI can help businesses reach new heights, but it’s human innovation, empathy, and understanding that determine success.
Content provided by Q4intelligence
Image generated by HubSpot AI