AI: Assessing the challenges and opportunities outlined by Lord Holmes

It goes without saying that artificial intelligence has been one of the hottest topics on the global news agenda in recent times. Most agree that the technology presents a number of significant opportunities for commerce across the board – with many predicting that it will revolutionise the way we all live our lives. However, it also goes without saying that it is not without its challenges, particularly in terms of the technology’s dissemination and debates around ethics. 

Over the past year, the UK Government has been further exploring AI, not just from a technological point of view, but also from an economic and social standpoint. The House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence published the findings of its review in April 2018.

Reflecting on the comments that Lord Holmes makes in our insightful video interview, Alan Joesbury, Senior Consultant at Michael Page Technology, had this to say:

Who is leading the way in UK AI innovation? 

Alan Joesbury: “From what we are seeing, start-ups seem to lead the way when it comes to AI innovation. By their nature, they are intending to be disruptors and often drive a data-led culture from day one. This means that they don't need to change an existing working culture. Established medium or large businesses with well-entrenched ways of doing business can often find it hard to invest in or understand the benefit of working with AI. This is not to say that larger businesses are not involved in the AI revolution, simply that smaller start-ups are often the ones pushing the envelope.
“Retail and ecommerce AI tends to 'take off' better, as the outcome is usually more tangible to the end-user/consumer and is likely to spread virally via places like YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. All sectors are innovating in their own ways but quite often the products are firmly behind the scenes meaning that the public is much less likely to experience or interact with it. Online retail is the one sector where everyone will come into contact with AI in some form or other, whether they know its AI or not. Companies like Netflix and ASOS are already utilising complex AI-driven recommendation engines, which most consumers will have some sort of exposure to.”

What are the key challenges to the further expansion of AI?

“The biggest obstacle to further expansion in the AI space is the shortage of the necessary skills. This has the potential to hold the industry back because you can’t build these solutions if you don't have the right people with the right skills. You can get as much buy-in from your board as you like to go and build an AI platform, but without the people capable of building it, it simply will not happen. Furthermore, the uptake of and desire for AI technology is driving the battle for talent in this field. Companies are fighting to secure and retain the best talent in the AI space and as more and more companies realise the potential which lies within AI, this battle will intensify.”

What are the ethical issues around AI?

“The ethical issues around AI have the potential to be vast and the speed at which AI can turn from something both weird and wonderful into something ugly is rapid. Companies will need to be careful when implementing AI solutions, ensuring that they are applying these tools and techniques to not just drive better business outcomes but also look after the best interest of the consumer or the end-user. It's a bit of a minefield and it's extremely likely that there will be further legislation beyond GDPR that will be introduced to try to ensure bad practice in AI does not occur.
“Communication is key to assure consumers don’t feel duped. There is a constant joke about the length of T’s & C’s to use any app or online service nowadays and visibility of what actually happens gains much more respect from consumers. People are starting to not trust the big names now and so keeping your customer in the know will help retain that trust.”

How can businesses get their workforces on board with AI?

“In order to ensure that your workforce is kept up to date with evolving technology, plenty of investment into training will be needed and this certainly shouldn't be something new to organisations, because roles have changed, have become redundant and have been born from innovations throughout history. It is important that a company is constantly understanding what capability they can gain from emerging technologies and they are consistently challenging how they do things. Continually developing its own workforce to adapt to these changes via up-skilling should ensure that no company is left behind. It's complacency that is the death of businesses, particularly in rapidly evolving spaces.”
Are you looking to grow the AI capabilities in your team, why not get in touch to discuss how we can help find the right people to join your team? Alternatively, submit a job spec and one of our specialist consultants will call you to explore your hiring needs.
Alan Joesbury
Senior Consultant – Business Intelligence & Data, Michael Page Technology
T: +442072692255