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The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, and despite the fact that the AI systems have become very powerful and capable, they still resemble a junior employee within an organisation - very useful but requiring oversight and guidance in order to succeed.

The Role of AI as a Junior Employee

When I think of AI as a junior employee, I consider it as a specialised tool, that is efficient at performing well-defined tasks but still in the early stages or its potential.

Current AI models and systems may excel in specific areas like customer support, content generation, data analysis etc. but like a new hire, they need oversight to ensure they deliver the results that align with the organisation’s goals.

For example, a language model solution can produce human-like text at an impressive scale, but it may lack the ability to understand context, tone, or intent in alignment with organisation’s goals and messaging in the same way a human would. Thus, similar to a junior employee who may be good at their job but needs regular feedback and guidance, an AI system can handle many tasks, but it requires oversight to ensure quality. Without this supervision, AI’s outputs can quickly become misaligned with the intended outcomes.

The Unchecked AI

AI systems are not infallible. If left unattended they can create more work for humans - in this case the employees of an organisation - often in the form of corrections, troubleshooting or even more complex problem-solving.

For example, in customer service, AI chatbots can resolve a range of queries, but if left to handle complex issues without proper escalation and human oversight, they can frustrate customers or even deliver undesired results. The consequences of that is that senior employees may need to step in to resolve the situation, leading to inefficiencies and added workload. Similarly, outdated AI solutions may operate with old data or flawed assumptions, leading to cascading errors. In such cases, senior employees may find themselves caught in a cycle of correcting AI mistakes or manually intervening to ensure everything is back on track.

The Autonomous AI Agents

The future promises something more ambitious, autonomous AI agents that will be capable of handling tasks with little to no human intervention, self-monitoring their work and adapting to changing circumstances. Imagine a scenario where AI systems not only generate content and execute tasks but also refine and adjust their output based on real-time feedback, learn from past mistakes and evolve with minimal oversight. This is the future we are moving toward.

In this future, AI systems may function more like senior employees, taking on complex tasks independently, while humans focus on strategy and oversight, where their expertise is needed.

However, this shift will not come without challenges. Trust will be a significant factor, and organisations will need to ensure that AI agents can be relied upon to make decisions that align with organisation’s values and goals. Ethical considerations will also come into play, for instance how to ensure that AI agents are transparent and who is accountable for their actions.

Conclusion

Even as AI becomes more autonomous, the need for human-AI collaboration will remain. There will still be areas where human insight and creativity are necessary. Moreover, as AI becomes more autonomous, it may present new opportunities for employees to work alongside autonomous systems, driving efficiencies and innovation.

Right now, AI operates more like a junior employee, capable but requiring oversight and guidance. If left unattended may create more problems than it solves, leading to additional work for senior employees. However, the rise of autonomous agents could change the game, reducing the need of constant oversight and potentially allowing businesses to scale operations more efficiently, helping to tackle tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming and repetitive.