_24.png?pVfx9nclp2TiCMxBWwAChtRxYswxvsFs "Artificial Intelligence: The Positives and Dangers of AI")
SIG University Certified Sourcing Professional (CSP) program graduate Aaron Eleazer shares how the advancements of AI technology provide an exciting and innovative space that has an important place in how business is done and improved upon and also shares the concerns associated with it.
Artificial Intelligence was quite an exciting presentation. It ‘s such a big part of our daily lives that I wanted to write my final paper on the subject and hopefully bring a different light to it. I want to write a few paragraphs on the pros and dangers of artificial intelligence. I say threats instead of cons because this technology is moving so fast; not even the creators of it have any idea what could happen.
The first SIG conference I attended was back in 2018 in Washington, D.C., and what I found intriguing was that the focus of all the speakers was on Blockchain and AI. I didn ‘t know much about either, but soon thereafter, my director started talking about AI capabilities in contracting. AI or machine learning is excellent for running mundane tasks like searching for specific contract clauses.
Quickly identifying or comparing two legal documents for similarities or contrasting clauses is a tremendous step forward in the evolution of process improvement, effectiveness, and efficiency. This same technology is used in invoice processing, where it can read, analytics, and process submitted invoices quickly, which eventually means the end or a considerable reduction in the resources needed from a BPO for that specific service which the AP function lends itself well to.
Another area I ‘ve seen quite a leap forward in using AI has been spending analytics. I was working with a company to implement spend analytics. One of their product-offered features was the machine learning component, which would learn from past inputs so the program would learn what categories a particular vendor ‘s spend would land in so we didn ‘t have to manually segment the spend data each time quarterly AP uploads were done. It also could do predictive analytics, which was a game changer at the time.
Artificial intelligence, on its face, streamlines business processes and can potentially transform the world of business and procurement, specifically in a big way. Things like Siri and Alexa are so prevalent today that we barely realize it ‘s AI. Although AI can enhance our individual lives and how we operate our businesses, there is a danger. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, and many others are moving at high speed, developing this technology faster than we can know the ramifications. Technology is good, but can you have too much of a good thing?
Let ‘s take a look at ChatGPT, for example. OpenAI has released ChatGPT 4, and not only can it write a coherent essay, song, or poem, but it can pass tests far exceeding humans in some cases. Here are some examples:
- GRE Verbal reasoning – 99 percentile
- US Biology Olympiads – 99 percentile
- BAR Exam – 90 percentile
- LSAT – 88 percentile
Bill Gates stated that education is the most exciting application for this technology and predicts that in the next 5-10 years, kids will learn differently than just looking at material. The danger is that we could have a whole generation of kids worldwide being taught by a computer, but are they being taught how to think critically or what and how to think? Who ‘s in control of the data that is being taught as truth? I recall Ray Bradbury ‘s Fahrenheit 451, where books were banned, and you only knew what the government and the AI told you was the truth. When the main character finally reads a book, he learns that everything he was taught his whole life was a lie, and the powers in charge hunted him so he wouldn ‘t spread the truth. Is this where we ‘re headed?
People used to say that we don ‘t yet have machines that can walk upstairs or open doors, but robots can now do that and much more than those essential functions per Boston Dynamics. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said in an interview that he didn ‘t know all the dangers posed by this technology. The question, Would you push a button to stop it if there were a 5% chance it would be the end of the world? He answered, I would push a button to slow it down. What if we got to the point where we couldn ‘t stop it even if we wanted to because the machines wouldn ‘t let us? Has life now imitated art? Sounds like Hyperdyne Systems from Terminator to me.
I ‘m not against AI; on the contrary. However, we need to take a hard look at it and what the unintended consequences are because once that door is open, there ‘s no closing it.
The Certified Sourcing Professional (CSP) Program is a 10-week course that focuses on the hard and soft skills of sourcing, including strategic sourcing and outsourcing methodologies, as well as best practices in negotiations.