The Human-AI Connection: Key Takeaways From Milken Institute Global Conference

With a revolutionary technology like artificial intelligence (#AI) advancing so rapidly, it’s important to take stock frequently to test your own thinking and your organization’s strategy. The gathering of top corporate leaders, technologists, thinkers, and policymakers at this month’s Milken Institute Global Conference provided just such an opportunity for us. I sat down with Michael Zeltkevic , global head of capabilities at Oliver Wyman , to digest what we learned. Here are some of our takeaways from the event.

Concentrate on results, not hype

Companies are beginning to move beyond the initial buzz around generative AI’s capabilities and discrete use cases to broader pilots and considering how the technology can transform their businesses in a more fundamental way. It’s important to score some early wins to build comfort with the use of generative AI, and near-term productivity gains from deploying AI in call centers and data analysis can free up resources for more-challenging work like developing new products and services. But shifts in mindsets and the design of work are needed to help us adjust to these greater possibilities, judging by the number of people who compared the benefits of AI to outsourcing.

Transformation demands a focus on work, not technology

Many companies have deployed generative AI to speed up specific tasks in individual departments. The real challenge, and potential benefits, require collaboration across departments to think deeply about the current and future work of the organization, and reimagine better ways of getting there. That involves deconstructing and analyzing existing workflows, deciding what activities AI can substitute versus augment, and making sure you have talent with the right skills to operate in an increasingly machine-enabled environment. For example, we heard how some police departments are using AI to monitor multiple closed-circuit camera feeds and alert a human overseer if it detects anomalies that might suggest a crime.

Companies need to start grappling with the human-AI connection

Gen AI’s conversational abilities will turn almost all of us into system operators interacting directly with intelligent agents. But human oversight and ability to spot errors tends to become less effective as machines take on more and more activities, as experience with vehicle autopilot programs have shown. Companies need to understand the nuances and risks of the work, and where AI should substitute versus augment human judgment and capability.

More broadly, companies will need to develop effective approaches for managing AI assistants. Humans beings have developed intuition and empathy over tens of thousands of years by dealing with other creative humans, and yet we still struggle with that at times. We will need to adapt quickly as machines increasingly mimic human creativity. 

Bring your people along on the transformation journey 

Ninety-eight percent of employees surveyed say they will need training or upskilling in the use of generative AI in the next five years, but only 40% of CEOs share that view. That gap needs to close quickly if companies are to really reimagine their workflows and get the full benefits of AI. Companies and societies will need a workforce that can continually reinvent itself – or learn, unlearn, and relearn, in the words of futurist Alvin Toffler – to prosper in an AI world.

New technology always brings us opportunities and challenges. Generative AI has merely accelerated the speed and scope of the change. But our conversation with hundreds of participants at the Milken conference underscored that human insight and connection remain as vital as ever. That’s good because we have a lot of work to do.