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All previous Industrial revolutions have been preceded by a jump in technology, from the energy coal provided for the new steam powered engines in the First Industrial revolution to now and what is sometimes now discussed as the 6th Industrial revolution, featuring quantum computing and nanotechnology.
Throughout history, many technologies have changed various aspects of human life, such as information flow, transportation, transactions and how we interact with each other. Among the most impactful were the steam engine, transforming manufacturing and transport, Electricity and now computing. Once, we had computers the size of a room and now they fit in our pockets. All of these technologies are, essentially, disruptive. Disruptive Technology is an innovation that changes the way consumers, businesses and industries operate.
Every technology innovation has the power to disrupt how we live and work, changing our life landscape. Every disruption presents new opportunities and challenges. The transportation revolution challenged the whole industry surrounding horse drawn vehicles but huge new opportunities were created in road building needs and vehicle production facilities which changed the lives and futures of entire generations across the globe.
And so, we come to AI, which someone might, rightfully so, say is the holy grail of inventions. AI is an invention which may itself create other inventions. In its current form, it is already disrupting some industries and has the potential to disrupt many others. LLMs such as ChatGpt, Generative AI like Midjourney and Deep Learning Networks, in general, have provided many tangible results already.
Deep learning networks learn from millions of hours of driving footage and feedback on how to drive, taxis, trucks and even car ownership could be disrupted in the future. We already see how one can combine AIs to come up with a great prompt that will lead to an interesting piece of Art. What this will do to Art in general is an open question but for me, I envision it will lead to a new type of Art and also to the democratisation of art mediums.
Business wise, AI has the capacity to disrupt many aspects across almost every industry. Customer Service, for example. Use of AI will enhance the support experience for the customer by streamlining and targeting information flow for staff which in turn allows for quicker and more efficient response and resolution times. Happy customer, happy staff, happy company.
Voice technology is also experiencing a revolution with tech such as OpenAI’s Whisper. With tech like this, it’s now possible to understand what another person is saying with better than human accuracy. Additionally, voice generation based on text is becoming indistinguishable from a human voice. With all the necessary pieces in place, AI is positioned to easily lead a significant disruption of Customer Support as a business.
”Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
-Arthur C. Clarke
As always, with greatness, comes responsibility. It’s worth remembering that while most significant technological advancements can be used for good, there is always potential for misuse. In the coming years, we will see a new level of fraud and hacking powered by AI that wasn’t available previously. Similarly, AI-generated news and content will make it harder to figure out what is real and what is manipulated, which will require greater critical thinking from the audience and AI tools to help distinguish the real from the imitation.
The Genie is out of the bottle now; however, thankfully it’s not the Super Intelligence kind (yet) I think taming this lesser kind comes first before we have a go at that! It’s easy to feel anxious with any technology of this kind, but staying optimistic and excited for the positive changes it will bring is most important — finding opportunities to use this technological revolution for good and bettering lives. That’s our goal at Ardanis.