Artificial intelligence (AI) will become much more human-like and intuitive for people to use, Accenture highlighted in its 2024 Technology Vision report titled “Human by Design.”
The report also revealed that generative AI has the potential to impact 44 per cent of all working hours across industries in the U.S. and enable productivity enhancements across 900 different types of jobs.
“We were very careful about why we put it that way,” explained global lead, innovation at Accenture, Adam Burden. “We didn’t say roles, we didn’t say jobs, we said working hours, because it’s our belief that this amplification will impact those in every role and allow people to do things better and faster, with higher quality and maybe even at skill levels that they’re not currently able to do. So for us, the outcome here is goodness.”
Following a round of mass layoffs, the company invested US$3 billion in AI last summer, and announced it is doubling its AI workforce to 80,000 over the next three years.
There will be some transition, but there will also be new roles that will create more profitability and productivity for companies, noted Burden.
He further explained that a lot of jobs like switchboard operators in the 1940s do not exist anymore because of new technologies like microprocessors. But new roles always end up surfacing to create new value.
Michael Blitz, managing director, Accenture Technology Vision, Accenture Technology Labs, also contended that Accenture looks at amplifying companies with AI, but it remains the responsibility of these companies to transition employees through this change.
He said, “I think it’s important for people to know from the outset that it’s just not about how you build that next product. It’s rather how you’re going to be able to transition people to being able to use it in the ways that they should.”
Companies requiring an AI-capable workforce also have to be responsible for building those skills and investing in people, notably because there is no current workforce to hire from, asserted Burden.
Blitz and Burden also acknowledged that the implementation of AI will require human oversight at all levels.
“Organizations that build the right controls to have humans in the loop are the ones that will definitely be more successful in the market, because they’re the ones that will gradually build more confidence in AI,” affirmed Burden.
Other insights from the report include:
- Data will be reorganized in ways that facilitate human-like reasoning and even mimic creativity. For instance, users will receive curated, personalized responses in the form of advice, a summation of a vast set of results, an essay, an image, or even a piece of art, instead of having to comb through mountains of search engine results.
- AI-empowered agents work on behalf of individuals and are part of an interconnected ecosystem. These automated agents assist, advise us and take decisive actions on our behalf in both the physical and digital worlds.
- New immersive worlds for personal interaction will be created by extending physical, 2D worlds into new 3D environments using spatial computing, metaverse, digital twins and AR/VR technologies.
- AI-powered wearables, brain-sensing neurotech, and eye and movement tracking will be used to unlock a better understanding of us, our lives, and our intentions, to enhance the way we work and live.
See the full report here.
