An increasing number of companies, both large and small, are applying artificial “intelligence” (AI) in their phone systems, chat features, on factory floors, and throughout business operations. Is this hot new technology truly as wonderful as many people think it is?
AI can certainly be “trained” (that means apply sophisticated algorithms to account for known variations in standard responses to inquiries or when completing a process and calculate probabilities for appropriate application to each need). Why the quotes around “trained” or on a larger scale, “intelligence?” Machines can certainly be programed to perform tasks far faster than a human can manage. That includes analyzing many options or flow chart steps ahead at a lightening pace whereas humans take longer to consider options and might not consider as many alternatives.
However, humans have a phenomenal advantage that computers will never be able to match, let alone exceed. The computer can add existing responses to its database of probable outcomes, but it cannot achieve the sentient ability to respond to situations it has not yet encountered, nor develop creative solutions that have not been thought of before. God made humans with these abilities to create from our God-provided minds as a small mirror of the huge ability of God to create ex nihilo (out of abosolutely nothing).
Furthermore, computers are built and programmed by humans. That implies AI software such as ChatGPS and OpenAI always reflect the biases and worldviews of their programmers. They may pull together articles and data faster than a human, but the result is an expression of the human programmers’ worldviews, not a unique “learning” by the inanimate, unthinking, unfeeling hunk of metal we call a computer. In other words, AI is just a magnifying glass, enlarging and arriving faster at the conclusion its programmers develop. Thus the AI programs can never exceed the paradigm and creativity of their creators, just as no human can exceed the inherent limits that our Creator has built into us.
AI has a legitimate place in modern companies and non-profit organizations to facilitate processes such as manufacturing, logistics, and provide standard responses to customers faster and with less time commitment by employees. It helps you leverage your company’s resources. However, organizational leadership cannot be replaced by a machine, and humans will always be required for oversight of AI, making corrections when AI programs supply nonsensical responses, and especially when creativity is required to develop anything new.