Is ghis why democracy doesn't work?

 Most western democracies are going through turbulent economic times.  Of course, recently we have had the various Trump troubles - tariffs that seem to change on a whim - and wars and unrest that seem to pop up with increasing speed.  But Western woes predate the current Trump era - and even the COVID era, though that did have a significant, negative impact on most economies.

Oner problem is that we learned about our troubles too late to act.  As the situation turned and worsened, we were still reading 'good' figures and positive results.  

This is because many of the indicators used to judge performance are lagging indicators.  They tell us we're in trouble well after the trouble started.  We (the public) were enjoying low inflation, low interest rates and high property prices whilst national productivity was stalling.

The UK is now in a dangerous position whereby we cannot afford new infrastructure that might help catalyse productivity growth. Business confidence is very low - and when it is  low, businesses do not invest - in new capital equipment, and, even in the training snd development of the workforce.

We are experiencing the pain of low growth - and there is almost certainly more pain to come. 

Meanwhile the political parties are arguing about 'peripheral issues' - without productivity growth we cannot afford to increase our defence budget, increase spending on the NHS,  solve the social care problem and make everyone feel warm and cosy again.

Of course, voters don't vote for pain, so we wouldn't vote for a government even if it had the solutions to our current malaise.

This is why democracy is fundamentally flawed.  It works in good times- but not as well in bad times.

Of course I haven't anything better to offer you! 

Team AI

 In most organisations, outputs come not from the work of individuals but from the work of teams.

In our new AI-powered and supported world, how do we build teams that include chatbots or robots.

To be honest, I don't know - and I suspect that very few others do.

Like people involved in ream-building I do have some ideas  - and some experiments I would like to try … but the technology - snd the way it is currently being applied -  is too new to be sure of anything.  I do think one has to go back to the basics of work and process design - and build tasks and operations that can benefit from AI.  As ever, one key factor will be gelling disparate technologies and software elements to link and work with each other.

Of course, one can use AI to help in the design of the process and associated systems - and one would bet a fool not to do so  but as I referred to last week, it is important to apply real, human intelligence to oversee the outputs of that AI.

However, building new AI-integrated processes is likely to be a much more fruitful route to success than simply using AI as 'sticking plaster' on current processes.

Not Necessarily Better

Those who have little experience of using AI tools, expect that, if they did, they would become more efficient, more productive and, in effect, smarter (or at least they would appear smarter to others).  Yet how often do you see others that have become all of these things.  Are playwrights producing better (?) plays; are  doctors making better diagnoses and issuing more effective prescriptions; are architects making better buildings?

Perhaps some are … but there is no obvious revolution of outputs and outcomes following the use of AI.  

This does not mean that AI is useless or ineffective.  It can help with tasks, with workflow, with efficiency … but we must not expect too much.   A lot of experience suggests that the 'I' of AI is perhaps too strong a word - much of what AI produces is not very intelligent - and even where it is, it is because the users are intelligent, analytical and capable of giving the right prompts or asking the right questions.

So, by all means, carry on using your AI tools and services.  They will get better over time and become more effective . But don't expect too mush.  Moderate your expectations. Don't believe the hype.  And continue to hire intelligent staff and develop their skills. 

Intelligent people using AI is the most likely route to success.

Are You Ready for AI?

Lots of people, and organisations, are looking to AI to give them a productivity boost.

Of course it might do so by improving the speed,  accuracy or value of specific processes or transactions.

However, those of you who read this blog regularly will know that I often warn about using any technology to speed up what you are doing - if you  are doing the wrong things.  There is little point if you have processes that lose you money, in increasing the rate at which you complete those processes and lose the money.

So, those organisations that benefit from adopting AI will be those that already have efficient and effective systems and processes in place, based on 'good' data.

If you are not sure this applies to you… pause, reflect, check, improve and ensure you do meet this requirement before using AI to help you.

Use your own intelligence before adding the artificial kind.