Decidr

One of the most prominent conversations around the rise of AI is job displacement.

A global study conducted by Zoom in 2023 found that 89% of employees feared job loss due to AI adoption. Business leaders also acknowledged this, with 71% attributing this fear as an obstacle to incorporating AI into their businesses.

However, what's often missed is that not only can AI and humans be complimentary in the workplace – AI is actually far more powerful when human skills are in the loop. We’d go so far as to argue that the integration of AI and people is essential for the future of business strategy, analysis and execution.

AI strength vs human strength

It’s important to consider the unique strengths that both AI and humans bring to the table, and how combining both is a recipe for success.

AI undoubtedly excels at jobs that require heavy data analytics and computational power. We can see this in the way that AI-powered predictive analytics models can forecast market trends with incredible accuracy. This gives organisations a powerful advantage as they are able to adjust or pivot their strategies in real time.

For example, AI can analyse customer behavioural data from millions of transactions to identify purchasing trends, enabling businesses to tailor their marketing and businesses strategies far more effectively. It can do a similar thing with inventory management by looking at past sales patterns and customer buying habits.

Similarly, AI can quickly process data sets in a way that humans struggle with. Its ability to crunch these numbers and perform subsequent simulations has resulted in significant breakthroughs in weather modelling, as well as physical and biological sciences.

AI also excels in sector-specific tasks. In fintech, AI algorithms can detect fraudulent transactions with a high degree of accuracy. In healthcare, AI can analyse medical images to identify diseases at an early stage.

None of these are things that we as humans should be scared of. Because we possess unique strengths of our own that are equally important to business success, particularly as AI becomes more normalised.

Emotional intelligence, complex problem solving and creativity are all inherently human strengths that are still critical for businesses.

Humans are also able to excel in customer engagement in a way that AI can’t. Humans can provide personalised experiences, they can surprise and delight and they can build relationships that resonate with clients and other stakeholders.

AI can’t empathise with customer concerns or work outside of computational rigidity in the same way a human can. That continues to be important for lead generation and loyalty.

When it comes to bridging the divide between human and AI work, we’re also better equipped to create custom models that are built upon the work of AI. This is something that requires nuanced insight, understanding, creativity and humanity that computers simply don’t have.

Then there’s work that requires language expertise. While generative AI is being used in these areas, humans are still eclipsing AI when it comes to writing and content creation. People can tell the difference and that’s a great thing.

The importance of strategic integration

It’s important to remember that both humans and AI also have inherent weaknesses.

For example, AI can be expensive due to its computational requirements. It can also lack context and general knowledge needed for broader tasks.

Businesses have also found AI model training to be somewhat challenging due to barriers such as intellectual property and privacy issues. And in the GenAI space, businesses are having to navigate balancing the ease and cost effective solutions AI brings with potential AI hallucinations and ensuring the content created is brand safe.

The good news is that businesses can overcome these limitations by strategically weaving human skills with AI.

Humans are able to consider ethical implications when choosing specific models and create guardrails.

And when it comes to tasks such as analysing datasets, strategists are able to interpret the predictions to create actionable plans for the business.

Keeping and open mind and proactively combining human and AI skills can address the above challenges, allowing for a stronger business powered by AI enhancements, as well as human oversight.

Taking our weather modelling example, where an AI will process meteorological data to predict weather patterns, human meteorologists can then interpret these predictions to issue accurate forecasts.

Similarly, in the science sector, AI can accelerate research by analysing experimental data, which allows scientists to focus on hypothesis generation and experimental design.

Jumping back into the business world, AI chatbots are able to handle routine inquiries, freeing up human workers to tackle more complex inquiries. GenAI tools are also being targeted at enterprise, with the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini all offering business subscriptions.

Blending AI and human skills is the future of business

The relationship between AI and human skills will be pivotal in shaping the future of business. In fact, it’s already happening in forward-thinking companies.

A future jobs report from The World Economic Forum back in 2020 — well before the generative AI preoccupation took off — predicted 85 million jobs could be “displaced by a shift in the division of labor between humans and machines by 2025.”

However, it also found that 97 million new roles could emerge that reflect a new division of labor between humans, machines and algorithms.

It's undeniable that AI offers incredible capabilities in data analysis and specialised tasks. But what’s being forgotten in the paranoia around AI is that human strengths — particularly our ability for creativity, emotional intelligence and complex problem solving — continue to be irreplaceable.

By strategically implementing both AI and human skills, businesses can overcome existing limitations and unlock new opportunities.

Companies like Decidr are at the forefront of this evolution, developing AI solutions that empower businesses to leverage both AI's computational power and human strategic insight. By embracing this collaborative approach, rather than being fearful of it, businesses can excel in what is going to become a far more dynamic and competitive business landscape.