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03 July 2024 - 5 min read
Following the rise in popularity of AI (artificial intelligence) technology, and with a reported 1 in 3 people now using some level of automation in their current office role, it may seem like everyone around you is suddenly an AI expert. As a result, you may be left feeling as though you’re lagging behind and out of touch with the current professional landscape as technology continues to advance.
If this is the case, we’re here to tell you that there’s no need to be concerned!
This blog works as a guide, to help you integrate AI into your daily work tasks, enhance your skills, boost your productivity and effectively leverage the benefits of the technology made available to you.
Before we begin reviewing the different ways through which you can utilise AI at work, it’s vital that you have a good understanding of what AI actually is and how it works.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is effectively a simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, allowing computer systems and software to learn and solve issues and streamline tasks similar to how a person would.
AI systems are trained on vast amounts of data and information, either previously inputted in the system or already published and available online, in order to identify patterns and correlations to make predictions. Typical examples of this include product suggestions you find on your social media or the human-like conversations you have with online chatbots.
Basically, by ‘learning’ from available data, AI systems can perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence or intervention. The more information that’s fed into AI algorithms and technologies, the more accurate predictions it can provide over time.
Businesses around the world are now starting to realise the potential and benefits that come hand-in-hand with employing AI in their business functions and processes, especially as far as the automation of mundane tasks is concerned, such as:
In fact, professional services company Accenture found that 73% of companies across the globe are prioritising the implementation of AI over all other investments, showcasing the importance of utilising this powerful tool in today’s professional market.
One of the greatest strengths associated with AI is its ability to relieve users from wasting valuable time on mundane and repetitive tasks, which could otherwise be utilised by performing tasks that require emotional intelligence, a feature which AI sincerely lacks.
Therefore, by using AI to handle more tedious functions, you can focus more on projects that truly require your expertise and, in turn, increase your productivity. For example:
Task automation:
Emails, data entries and scheduling meetings are a few of the tasks working professionals do on a daily basis that can take up a bigger chunk of time than you’d expect.
Fortunately, such tasks can be automated through AI, by employing tools like Zapier, which connects all apps used in your line of work through analysing text to determine what you want. Essentially, if you have a checklist on your desktop where you mention that you need to schedule a meeting for a specific date and time, Zapier automatically moves information from one app to another, so you don't have to do it manually.
Translation and transcription:
Translation and transcription can often be very time-consuming tasks, with hours put into listening to recordings over and over for transcriptions, while translation often requires individuals to grasp the context behind words and phrases (which can sometimes be difficult).
However, tools such as Otter.ai can easily convert audio into text through the use of machine learning and natural language processing, allowing you, for instance, to quickly make notes and summaries on meetings that require documentation.
Alternatively, Copy.ai leverages AI to offer exceptional translation capabilities, translating words, while retaining their intention and nuance.
Assisting in summaries:
AI tools are also extremely useful when it comes to summarising vast amounts of new information. It’s no secret that professionals must stay at all times on top of recent research in their field, but with many new studies released every day, it can be tedious to read through endless research papers and news articles.
AI tools, however, can condense and extract the key points from written reports by simply feeding the information you’re reading into the tool, like Hypotenuse AI, and in return, you’ll get a summary of everything worth noting in the text.
Whether you’re looking to overcome a creative block or simply generate visually engaging and creative visuals, AI toolkits can easily be integrated into your workflow to assist such aspects. For instance:
Content generation:
Perhaps the most talked about AI benefit recently has been the ability to generate content, cutting down the time professionals need to create content.
Many have already heard of ChatGPT, which helps users instantaneously develop blog posts, emails, summarise news articles, answer questions and many more content-related tasks. All you need to do is simply put into the tool a detailed command on a topic press enter and let it do its magic.
In a matter of seconds you can receive a lengthy piece of content, but be aware of reviewing it. ChatGPT, like most AI, is meant to assist you, not do your work for you. As such, it draws its answers from sources already available online, which means the content provided can sometimes be inaccurate, so reviewing your work is vital.
Writing support:
Besides content creation, there are AI tools that can simply assist your writing, by checking over your work for you. Grammarly, for example, is useful for checking your grammar and spelling in real time or all at once, to help you present your content in its finest form.
Design and image generation:
Textual content isn’t the only thing AI tools have the capability of creating. Tools such as Midjourney transform textual prompts into custom, unique images.
Such tools can greatly assist the creative process when employing it as creative inspiration, rather than completely replacing human design skills, since these tools will never actually give you exactly what you want.
Data analysis is another aspect of AI’s central role in significantly increasing productivity. Artificial intelligence has the ability to crunch through extensive databases in an effort to extract trends and patterns, saving a considerable amount of resources and time.
AI tools like Power BI, for one, are excellent for examining, analysing and reporting on large data sets. It’s essentially a data analytics and reporting tool that can generate useful and impactful insight for data-driven business decisions rapidly. It also shares these insights through interactive and customisable visualisations, such as custom dashboards and reports.
As we have previously touched upon, when employing AI at work it’s vital to remain mindful and wary of any inaccuracies and biases that may exist.
Using ChatGPT as an example again, it’s important to be aware of any biases you may unconsciously frame as a question. Think about your intent. Are you looking to negate or confirm a particular point of view? Thus, be cautious about how you word your questions or prompts, because if your input contains bias, it’s more than likely that the answer you’ll receive will also carry bias.
Additionally, some AI tools tend to extract their knowledge and insights from information already available online, however, as we’re all aware, not everything that’s out there is accurate or comes from a reliable source.
Consequently, when using AI in your line of work it’s crucial to review and fact-check everything generated from AI systems and toolkits. Where necessary, perform your own research to make sure that what your content is reporting on is sound and accurate.
Above all, it’s important to remember not to fully rely on AI in your role, as it tends to omit the human touch, particularly from creative perspectives. For example, use AI tools to help you create content such as blogs, social media posts and articles, but make sure your brand voice is still integrated. This will make your copy far more engaging than the AI-generated content.
While AI can provide valuable insights, when used effectively, it cannot replace the need for human influence, especially as far as decision-making is concerned. Utilise the answers you extract from AI systems to reach an informed and augmented decision, but don't rely on it to make the decisions for you.
Embracing AI can yield numerous benefits, both for employees and businesses. From increased productivity to more efficient reporting and enhanced decision-making, the options are limitless in how AI can improve business processes.
Although job displacement and ethical considerations continue to be societal concerns that businesses will need to address on an ongoing basis, there is certainly a competitive advantage associated with the use of AI that will benefit you and your organisation.
However, AI can be complex, with many different processes and systems to understand, so if at any point you feel like you’re struggling to grasp these updates, reach out to your line manager to seek support.
Be proactive in getting the right training to effectively use AI in your line of work, whether that would be through online courses, webinars or user guides, there are many ways in which you can train yourself to better understand AI and its applications.
Finally, through utilising AI tools and systems, organisations and employees can remain competitive, current and, most importantly, agile in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
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