Using AI to Deploy Ubiquitous Project Management
From the AI IQ Blog
by Paul Boudreau
Technology offers an incredible opportunity to improve project performance. This blog shares the latest research and how organizations are implementing AI into their project methodology. Come with an open mind, increase your knowledge, share your concerns, and become a project manager with new skills to offer an organization.
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AI,
Artificial Intelligence,
Ethics,
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Natural language processing,
procurement,
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The development of virtual assistants and large language models (LLMs) provides the foundation for ubiquitous project management. I define this term as the ability of a project manager to manage a project from anywhere at any time. The technical components are available, but the functional aspects need some explanation and guidelines.
The purpose of ubiquitous project management is to improve productivity by allowing instant access to project data and decision-making. The premise is that the project team or various parts of the project are performed in different regions, such as a globally distributed project or one where contractors complete tasks at different sites.
LLMs, such as ChatGPT, can be accessed from smartphone apps or even smartwatches. They are linked to two main data sources.
1. The project data. This consists of all project management plans, such as the deliverables, budget, schedule, resources, and risks, as well as the project's current status and past performance.
2. The logic, performance, and decisions of previous similar projects. This might be within the organization, assuming there are enough projects or a general database containing similar projects.
Augmented with machine learning algorithms, the virtual project assistant proactively predicts potential issues and highlights current project issues to be solved. The project manager can access solutions that work (supervised learning) and decisions to avoid (reinforcement learning). Project managers who provide prompts in ChatGPT are currently using a form of this capability. Over time, the content and logic will become more focused and more effective.
How does a project manager make ubiquitous project management successful?
- Continue to involve and communicate with the project team and stakeholders
- Take responsibility for the data used by the virtual assistant and the actions taken
- Abide by ethical and cultural considerations for a more diverse project environment
- Allow project team members to gain insight into the process
Ubiquitous project management offers a new opportunity to be more productive and manage projects more effectively. There will be missteps, misinformation, and misunderstandings, but significant gains are possible. Knowledge of AI and how the process can be applied helps project managers as this capability is deployed.
Posted on: December 02, 2024 12:00 AM |
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Comments (5)
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Short and Sweet.
Thank you for sharing!
John Brock
Project Management| ProjectAlliance.io
Nolensville, United States
Thank you for your insight Paul. Can you expand upon the following statement "Take responsibility for the data used by the virtual assistant and the actions taken"? I believe this statement would benefit from a deeper dive into its components and implications.
Paul Boudreau
President| Stonemeadow Consulting
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
@John. Great feedback. Thanks. I mean that people need to know what data is being accessed. Is it generic data or specific company data? Ask for sources (ChatGPT will provide this if asked). The problem is that some people think that when AI messes up there will be no one to blame. As project managers we need to take responsibility for the input, analyze or verify the output and own the decisions. AI is a tool that we use not a scapegoat for absolving responsibility.
John Brock
Project Management| ProjectAlliance.io
Nolensville, United States
@Paul. Thank you for expanding upon bullet point 2. The digital project management tools already in place which can be accessed from around the world via laptops, tablets and smart phones, provide project managers with a plethora of automated information and recommendations that are generally accepted as reliable and which project managers take (by default) responsibility for. As stronger AI is integrated into such platforms, my thought is that it will automatically fall under the trust umbrella which is already in place for those platforms which is accepted by the organizations that adopt them. Imho, I think project managers should avoid using ChatGPT or a similar service that is outside of a tested and trusted framework, because it will be missing the extensive QA that is conducted by owners of the trusted frameworks to ensure accuracy and reliability for their users. I believe ChatGPT adds an unnecessary element of risk and that its poor performance in many areas of prediction show that. After all, ChatGPT is a predictor not a thinker. However, to the extent that some project managers choose to accept that risk and use ChatGPT sort of off label, I agree, they should standby the actions taken against the information used. I do think that is self evident though and that project managers who do not hold "responsibility for actions" in the highest esteem should of course be avoided.
I do very much look forward to how Tool AI (not ChatGPT) is integrated into tried and trusted platforms and into launches of completely new ones and how it can aid project managers, stakeholders and customers.
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