As per the study released by Pegasystem Inc. , it had conducted a survey of 845 senior executives working globally in different sectors. The sectors were financial services, insurance, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and media. The survey was done to understand the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics in the near future.
The survey gave an idea that machine intelligence will be ever present alongside humans over time. Statistically, seven out of 10 respondents (69 percent) have the belief that the term “workforce” will evolve to cover both human and machine intelligence. Moreover, it is said that the employees working alongside AI technologies would get more business returns and increase the efficiency levels. 73 percent people feel the efficiency will increase and 62 percent feel that this will generate better customer service. Also, the numbers will increase even further as AI undergoes transformation in the people’s lives.
According to the survey, machine intelligence will empower the employees with more autonomy and job satisfaction. AI and robotics will help the staff make better decisions and improve the management system as felt by 8 out of 10 respondents (78 percent). AI will help the customer service agents by suggesting the next-best actions within the next five years, according to the views of more than three quarters (77 percent) of respondents. Out of all the people working with machines, 88 percent are comfortable working together with machines. At the same time, four out of five (79 percent) would not be comfortable with an AI-powered boss.
In the present scenario, organizations have been scrutinized on equal pay for equal work issues. The study says that the use of unbiased machine intelligence will be key in analyzing employee effectiveness in order to ensure a level-playing field. Two thirds (66 percent) of respondents have the viewpoint that AI will bring in a more transparent meritocracy in the workplace. For establishing AI as a standard practice, around three quarters (74 percent) feel it will help in the evaluation of employee performance whereas 72 percent feel that this only serve as a criteria to set appropriate rewards and recognition.
By incorporating machine intelligence to manage the gig economy, respondents expect a drop in the number of permanent employees at Fortune 500 companies by 2030. It is said that this shift to the large economy will provide flexibility to employers to hire on demand and a new set of challenges too. 85 percent expect a more flexible and freelance customer service staff which will help in providing customers 24/7 service. Also, 82 percent have the viewpoint that this will improve the response times. Conversely, 81 percent feel the shift towards temporary staff would make it difficult to promote the culture of customer centricity. The study also indicates that AI will ensure consistent quality services for the gig economy.
Don Schuerman, chief technology officer and vice president, product marketing, Pegasystems, said, “AI and automation technologies have generated tremendous hype, but the potential within the enterprise remains largely untapped. Organization must augment their human intelligence with AI across the entire organization in order to move beyond basic efficiency improvements. By deploying AI and automation with an end-to-end view in mind, businesses can move closer to fulfilling their customer centric vision.”
