Beware CEOs — AI Might Not Be Your Best Ally
It’s time to automatize seniority levels
We’ve been hearing for a long time now about the power of machine learning and AI and how these tools can help us automate many of our daily tasks. The goal: replace basic tasks. Many people are afraid of losing their jobs and many blame the machines.
Other individuals have preached the benefits of automation as it creates new jobs and opportunities for those who have been affected, but forgetting that these groups need re-skilling. One more way of making disappear local jobs is by outsourcing those services, usually to a company located abroad).
The tasks which have been automated until now had a basic or medium level of difficulty, replacing in this case junior and mid-level roles. We tend to think these substitutions are cheaper and more reliable.
If automation is something that it’s the top of mind of AI experts, why are we looking only to the base of the company’s pyramid and not the top? And now let’s imagine that those on top prefer to spend their days playing golf or spending more time with their family and kids. Could automation be their best ally?
Now we can dream of automating higher-paid roles. Seniority roles contribute to strategic decisions inside of the company. Their incomes are high because their tasks are difficult and may affect the whole structure of the organization.
We all know COVID-19 affected last year's economic results for many businesses. Many of them will have to show their results to stakeholders. There might be people who think CEOs salaries are too high and that a good leader would make sacrifices to shield people’s jobs and a more than acceptable financial result.
We should start thinking about if CEOs pay is ethical or fair now that we’re facing one of the biggest crises of the last 50 years. Should they continue raising their salaries when they’re reducing the cost of their core business?
Their machines are becoming cheaper and more accurate (apparently of course), but the management cost is increasing. This doesn’t seem to be the best way of progressing or at least not a sustainable solution to tackle this crisis and contribute to a better society.
I would like to imagine how I could automize a leader. Where would I start? What are the tasks that are similar from one CEO to another? I am thinking that all of them attend large meetings and presentations of their new products. I imagine automatizing their speech (using speeches of their previous years). It would show some enthusiasm, amazement, and hope for a new future. It might sound crazy, but not surreal.
We also know of those who don’t do a lot of stuff because someone’s doing it for them. Their duties are completely outsourced and automation can be a good solution. After all, we want to get rid of tasks that we don’t want to do because they’re boring or repetitive.
What kind of training will the machine need to achieve this automation? How many thousands of data we will need to make this happen? Is it available now? Who owns it?
I know this point might seem silly, but it would be funny to start thinking of this as a reality. Can a robot make better decisions than a human CEO? Could we accept them if we maintain or jobs instead? How the interaction would be? What would we value most of that exchange? We always have ideas thinking in those who are in the base, let’s start looking a little bit up, maybe we might surprise ourselves with the outcome.
