AI: A Journey of Change
- info5474246
- May 29
- 2 min read
By Nana Akua Afriyie Asumeng
AI use is, at its core, a paradigm shift. It is a mindset shift at an individual level first, then at enterprise level. AI is about humans embracing our intellectual limitations, then realising there is another ‘reasoning entity’ in existence that is not as limited as we are. This introduces a fear of humans being replaced by AI for tasks/ occupations that AI executes better. Such a mindset subconsciously paints AI as an antagonist, but AI is a companion for advancing humanity by taking us beyond our limitations.
According to an MIT Technology Review titled ‘The great acceleration: CIO perspectives
on generative AI”, AI does not present a large scale automation threat to the human workforce. Instead, the CIO and academics interviewed by MIT stated that, AI will allow ‘the broader workforce to be liberated from time-consuming work to focus on higher value
areas of insight, strategy, and business value’. Therefore, the job market needs to be reimagined and reskilled to complement the advancements introduced by AI.
Sinead Bovell, Futurist and Strategic Foresight Advisor and WAYE Founder, sharing insights on the topic ‘AI and the future of education’ gave an interesting analogy I will reference here. Prior to the invention of calculators, students completed basic computations. However, with the invention of calculators, educators had to give students more complex mathematical exercises that used output from calculators as input for tasks the calculator could not perform. Likewise, we need to challenge ourselves to leverage assistance from AI as input for further complex tasks.
Humans are creatures of habit as the saying goes. Guess what? Habits can be nurtured; we need to nurture new mindsets that perceive AI as companions for excellence and find ways to reimagine how we can improve our lives with AI at a personal and enterprise level.
Our transformed mindsets become a canvas to paint a home, workplace and world that leverages AI to be more productive, less wasteful and potentially carve out more time for enjoying our families, friends, music, food, cultures and nature.
I enjoy discovering new things, and my current focus is on AI Enterprise Integration. I've recently realized that regardless of how remarkable an invention is, people/end users require the appropriate mindset for it to be significant. What I'm suggesting is that while businesses strive for AI integration to improve workflow, they must also focus on comprehending and transforming their employees' mindsets on a personal level.
Nana Akua Afriyie Asumeng is an agile project manager with ScratchCode, and an aspiring AI Coach and Technology Strategist who is interested in not just looking at technology integration, but also focusing on the end users of that technology as building blocks for a successful integration.