AI Actually Has The Potential To Make Work More Human

Craig Walker is the Founder & CEO of Dialpad. He has 20+ yrs experience as an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, tech executive and attorney.

We’re at the point in our journey with AI where what it can do for us is being defined and redefined every day. This is a pivotal point for business leaders to decide how to implement new technology in a way that improves the lives of customers and employees alike. And, despite some concerns, AI is an opportunity to ultimately support the human side of work, rather than replacing it altogether.

A 2022 report by IBM about the rate of AI adoption noted that 44% of organizations were already working to embed AI into their current processes. In Q2 of 2023, that number is likely even higher and growing fast. Those who aren’t dipping their toes into this technology run the risk of missing a train that picks up speed at every stop. But we also have an opportunity to ensure that how we choose to adopt AI centers on people and making our businesses better for both customers and employees.

Here are a few ways that AI can make work more human—if we let it.

A More Powerful Frontline

For customer service work, like a call center, the benefits of AI as a first response are clear. Automated responses are consistent, efficient and fast and often solve the problem before it escalates. AI models are easy to train and keep updated, and they can work around the clock in a way people cannot and should not. If the point of customer service is to help as many people as possible solve their issues as quickly and effectively as possible, employing AI will do that job and do it well.

Add to that the fact that a 2022 customer experience report showed that 81% of consumers want more self-service options when it comes to customer service, and AI starts making even more sense.

But where this pivot can better humanize your customer experience, and infuse your staff with additional resources and attention, comes one tier up. For more complex requests or for those customers who still really value speaking to a person when ironing out their issues, I believe the human frontline will be better than ever. Consumers with a problem are your most important customers, and you want them speaking with your most professional, highest trained, best-compensated experts who are ready, willing and able to solve those issues.

Every business has a finite amount of resources, so be sure to hyper-focus your budget on top-tier training and compensation for employees working at the expert level. Employees get more of what they need, and customers only get the best of the best.

AI Only Knows What People Tell It

AI certainly can make life easier and make work more seamless—but only if it’s informed correctly by the right people. Your call center AI, for instance, can only provide solutions it’s been provided with, which means as this technology becomes more prominent, so should your investment in creating and updating content to keep it accurate.

This is another instance where the resources you save can be reinvested into expert employees who make things run smoothly. Have your best people creating the knowledge that feeds into the AI systems and make sure they’re arming the system with all the tools and information required to serve customers’ evolving needs.

This is just as true for internal-facing tools. Imagine how efficient an AI chatbot could be for those with questions about their benefits. Inputting the right information takes these resources one step above a company wiki (which, let’s be honest, is rarely ever up to date) and puts the information itself in conversation with those who seek it. This kind of adoption stops bottlenecks from forming, gets people their information faster, and lets roles like HR get back to what they do best.

Lowering The Barrier To Entry

The far and wide adoption of AI is set to increase both the speed and the frequency of innovation. What it also has the potential to do is lower the barrier of entry to bringing your ideas to the marketplace. Traditionally, those who’ve been able to get an idea produced have required a lot of specific training—the right schools, the right kind of knowledge. AI has the potential to remove that requirement, and then it just comes down to the ideas.

By unlocking a diversity of ideas by removing obstacles, you can welcome a diversity of voices and experiences into the tech space, which will only make innovation richer and more interesting. In that way, AI is an opportunity to be a great equalizer, leveling the playing field for people who might not otherwise normally get the chance to play.

Innovation is still the name of the game right now, and we can see that this AI-focused moment is a defining one. What’s important to remember is that during times of radical change, either you define the moment or it defines you. How we choose to let AI serve us, improve our businesses, increase our value and resource our teams is up to us. But people still have an important role to play in that implementation, and work doesn’t have to feel any less human.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?