CO-INTELLIGENCE

An expert in innovation explores the next stage in the AI revolution.

Already performing a myriad of specialized tasks, AI is poised to break into the mainstream business landscape, and workers throughout the corporate hierarchy will need to learn how to effectively use it. Mollick—author of The Unicorn’s Shadow and professor at the Wharton School, where he specializes in innovation and entrepreneurship—focuses on the practical, near-term implications, mixing theory with case studies and his own experience. He emphasizes that AI is a big step beyond simple software, and it can creatively manipulate huge amounts of information to solve problems in almost any field. The paradox is that to interact most effectively with an advanced AI system, a user has to treat it like a human (in some ways) while recognizing that it is still a machine. We must learn “to think together with an alien mind.” Mollick offers useful suggestions for how to approach AI and warns that it has the ability to make stuff up, even if inadvertently. Consequently, human oversight is crucial, especially when ethical decisions are involved. Mollick predicts that the impact of AIs will be felt most keenly by junior members of an organization, allowing them to function like veterans. This is likely to improve overall productivity, but it might devalue the skills of experienced workers. There is also the danger that some workers will become dependent on AI assistance, so managers will have to ensure that AI systems remain tools and not bosses. One way or another, writes the author, there will be a period of disruption and reorganization, so be prepared. Mollick wraps these ideas into an accessible package, aiming mainly at CEOs and managers, but with something to say to anyone in a workplace.

An important road map through the AI labyrinth, written with authority and free of technojargon.