Will AI Impact Your Job This Time?

 

Artificial Intelligence is in the news every day — actually, it’s in our lives every day, from driving apps and email filters to the ways we shop, network and learn. Yes, smart machines and robots are already here, and yet it’s quite evident we’re only just getting to know them. That’s scary … exciting … and, for most of us, probably a combination of both.

I wrote the above paragraph in late May 2017, almost exactly six years ago — in my very first post here on the ProjectAtWork blog. It was in response to a Gartner report at the time that offered its latest analysis on the impact that AI will have on business strategy and human employment. It predicted that by 2022, “smart machines and robots may replace highly trained professionals in tasks within medicine, law and IT.”

At the time I said, “Really? Please go on…”

And the report did: "The economics of AI and machine learning will lead to many tasks performed by professionals today becoming low-cost utilities. AI's effects on different industries will force the enterprise to adjust its business strategy. Many competitive, high-margin industries will become more like utilities as AI turns complex work into a metered service that the enterprise pays for, like electricity."

Well, 2022 has come and gone. And ChatGPT and other AI developments have arrived, making even bigger headlines than the ones we were reading six years ago. And while this time does feel different, I have to pose the same question I did back then in response to Gartner’s prediction: Apart from being conduits of (team) energy (and strategic effort), are project managers “like electricity”? And is project management a future low-cost “utility”?

The Gartner report did address the benefits of AI technology versus human interaction and decision-making — “while AI will hit employment numbers in some industries, many others will benefit as AI and automation handle routine and repetitive tasks, leaving more time for the existing workforce to … handle more challenging aspects of the role, and even ease stress levels in some high-pressure environments.”

That sounds like what we are (still) hearing today about the impact ChatGPT and other AI technology will have on the project management profession.

"Ultimately, AI and humans will differentiate themselves from each other. AI is most successful in addressing problems that are reasonably well-defined and narrow in scope, whereas humans excel at defining problems that need to be solved and at solving complex problems. They bring a wide range of knowledge and skill to bear and can work through problems in various ways. They can collaborate with one another, and when situations change significantly, humans can adjust."

Sounds like what project managers do! In 2017 and 2023. And, five or 10 years from now, it will still be what the successful ones do.

The Gartner report continued: CIOs should “develop a plan for achieving the right balance of AI and human skills. Too much AI-driven automation could leave the enterprise less flexible and less able to adjust to a changing competitive landscape. This approach will also help reassure employees about where and how AI will be used in the organization.”

So, six years and many dozens of posts later, I’ll conclude with the same call to action. Are these discussions happening in your organization? If you don’t know, you should probably start asking. If they are happening, you should start participating. Because you want to be part of an organization that doesn’t see project management as a utility, and that demonstrably values your very human role in its success — now, and in the scary, exciting future.