Cut through the AI noise with Zoom

Generative AI is the term of the moment.

Although AI has been around for decades, generative AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s BARD, have squarely placed automation back into public consciousness.

It is estimated that 100 million people are experimenting with ChatGPT every day, and this number will go up exponentially as Google supercharges its search engine with the help of generative AI.

With this experimentation has come a lot of fear – will this highly powerful content creation tool steal our jobs? What are the risks associated with this technology – particularly around misinformation and bias?

In Zoom’s Work Transformation Summit earlier this week, the tech giant tried to cut through the noise around generative AI, automation and large language models (LLMs).

What are the pros and cons? What can employees and employers do to thrive in the new AI-powered world of work?

Making the world more human with AI

In her opening statements, Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer, said we are living in a “profound moment” for AI and automation. Now is the time to get intentional and responsible around how we develop and use AI at work (and elsewhere).

AI and automation expert Pascal Bornet agreed. He is clear that it is essential for us to all be responsible around AI, because it is based on human data, and therefore there are lots of potential biases.

Nancy Rademaker from the London School of Business added that if you have bias in, you get bias out. And that is a big issue for companies, and their diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging mission.

Bornet quickly turned to a more positive take, arguing that AI can help “make the world more human”; this was also the takeaway of Dr Vivienne Ming’s keynote at UNLEASH America 2023.

The first step is identifying what technology will never be good at – empathy, resilience, critical and analytical thinking – leaning into that, and then allowing AI to automate the rest. It’s about moving from knowledge work to insight work.

AI and humans must work in synergy, relying on their different, but complementary skills. Bornet called on employers to step up and evangelize around AI – help employees to lean into (and build) their human skills, and also identify where technology can help them do their jobs better.

Essentially, now is the time to learn and experiment with technology – and, of course, as Hashim stated, the technology itself will continue to evolve and change so this work is going to be ongoing.

Jason Averbook, senior partner and global leader of digital HR strategy at Mercer, chimed in with his thoughts. He shared that there are three types of work – hands, heads and hearts – and AI will disrupt the first type, thereby enabling humans to focus more on heads and hearts work.

However, for AI to be successfully integrated into the world of work requires more than change management, it requires a complete mindset change and for employees to embrace “changefulness”.

Ultimately, the people that will win in this AI-powered workplace are those that embrace technology, and don’t run away from it out of fear of the unknown.

All of this explains why Zoom, like many companies, is really focused on leveraging AI responsibly and making the world more human through technology.

The tech giant’s latest innovation is through Zoom IQ, which will become a smart companion for organizations that empowers collaboration unlocks potential using Zoom’s own generative AI, as well as partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Watch this space – Zoom plans to continue to innovate its solutions as the models evolve, but with ethics top of mind.

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