There are many examples of AI being used badly – even unintentionally. As a leader, you’re responsible for the use of AI in your team, and may even be responsible for the consequences if it’s not used well. Get this right as you lead your team on the AI journey in 2024 and beyond.
Happy Birthday, ChatGPT! It’s been a year since it brought AI into the mainstream, and AI will continue to change our world in the future.
I’m sure you’ve seen examples of AI being used well – and also examples of it being used poorly. The worst example I’ve seen – and one worth highlighting – happened just a few weeks ago.
In the wake of the PwC scandal earlier this year, the Australian Senate has an inquiry into the integrity of consulting firms (like KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC) when dealing with the Australian government. They are taking submissions, and one submission – from three very senior academics from well-respected universities (Macquarie University, the University of Wollongong, and the University of Sydney) had very specific examples of serious wrongdoing by these consulting firms.
The only problem was … Some of the examples they cited in their report were completely false! Why? Not because they were lazy or malicious, but because they were ignorant. They used Google Bard (Google’s version of ChatGPT) to write part of the report, and had no idea about how it worked. They had no idea it could make up stuff, so they didn’t fact-check it before submitting it to the parliamentary inquiry!
By the way, they were lucky and didn’t even get a slap on the wrist – they just apologised and submitted a new version of the report.
The reason I’m sharing this story is because it’s not about some student using ChatGPT to get a better mark on an exam, or somebody applying for a job using ChatGPT to improve their resume or interview. These are senior academics whose day job is to write reports like this! And yet even they were ignorant about the technology they were using.
This matters for you, too!
As a leader or manager, you have responsibility for your team – and maybe your organisation – in the way you use AI. There’s no doubt AI is with us to stay, and banning it or sticking your head in the sand about it won’t work. In fact, that’s risky and negligent.
Your responsibility is to provide the appropriate guardrails, guidelines, and education for AI use in your team. You don’t need to become an AI expert, but you do need to understand its potential and limitations.
To start, download my worksheet about AI risks, problems, and challenges to identify the most important issues for you – and then determine how to address them.
If you’d like my help with that, please ask – I’d love to help!
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