By David Schatsky, Deloitte LLP and Jeff Schwartz, Deloitte Consulting LLP
As with any new technological innovation, cognitive technologies—technologies grounded in artificial intelligence research—have both supporters and detractors. Some see them as a driver of higher productivity, better living standards, and economic growth, and that they will eventually create demand for workers with new skills. Others warn of widespread job losses and even more dire consequences like killer robots.
Our view, however, is that the outlook is not so grim. It’s difficult to envision machines replacing humans in jobs requiring adaptability, creativity, and common sense. Instead, what is more likely in the future are stronger complementarities between humans and machines.
Research on the topic of automation suggests that any automation decision should be evaluated to understand its effect on humans and factors such as reliability of the automation as well as the associated costs. Taking this further, it is possible to identify four main approaches to automation:
- Replace: In this approach, organizations replace humans with machines completely.
- Atomize/automate: This involves breaking up the job into many parts and automating as many as possible. Humans would continue to do the jobs that involve thinking creatively, likely overseeing the entire process.
- Relieve: Machines take over the work that humans don’t cherish, leaving them free to take on more creative work.
- Empower: Technology is used to enrich human jobs; humans continue to be in the driver’s seat, assisted by machines.
Organizations planning to deploy this framework will need to first understand their decisions must be based on either a cost strategy or a value strategy. A cost strategy focuses on cutting costs by automating tasks. A value strategy aims to derive greater value from the task and the worker through automation.
Once they’ve determined their strategy, organizations will need to evaluate which processes to automate. Routine tasks are most likely to be automated—for example, processing paperwork. Meanwhile, jobs requiring creativity, flexibility, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence are unlikely to ever be automated—for instance, sales jobs that require employees to sell complex and comprehensive solutions to organizations.
One thing’s for certain—cognitive technologies are set to usher in not only a technological transformation in the workplace, but also an overhaul of talent strategies. It may eliminate jobs, but its greater potential lies in its ability to redesign work, creating more opportunities for workers and better value for companies.
Follow David Schatsky @dschatsky and Jeff Schwartz @JL_Schwartz on Twitter.
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This article was written by Deloitte and not by the Quartz editorial staff.