Discuss: Businesses should take more risks with AI

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As the firstborn, I was royally escorted by my mother on the first day of school—all the way to my desk—so she could have some peace of mind. On the first day of school the following year, my mom confidently dropped me and my brother off at the school’s door with a kiss and a wave out the car window. On the third year, my mom sent that same kiss and wave at the front door of our house, as my brother, sister, and I walked to school.

As this year ends, artificial intelligence is approaching its “second first day,” considering that John McCarthy coined the term back in 1955. Just like my mom who had one foot out the car as my brother and I trod to school, businesses are nervously approaching the chasm, where they must take a leap of faith into a new technology.

Part of the challenge is overcoming how we perceive the risks of AI. Incumbent businesses are inherently risk-averse; they take in every detail of their surroundings, process it, and strategize a course forward. Coincidentally, this is exactly how AI was developed in the 1970s. But researchers soon found that this method caused paralysis in the robots as they worked to (over)assess their environment.

It wasn’t until the late 1980s when researchers like Rodney Brooks rethought how an AI could operate. Maybe, we didn’t need an immense amount of information in order to interact with the world.

When my mom first dropped me off at school, school was like a black ominous box filled with unknown risks to her. She felt the need to gather data to ensure both of us could navigate that space safely. But by the third time she sent us off, she trusted that we were trained enough to navigate the world, equipped with the tools to learn, even though we didn’t know everything about it.

As a business, understanding this analogy is crucial to successfully cross the AI chasm. Here are some things you can do:

1. Educate yourself with what is possible or not with AI and machine learning so you won’t be oversold or over-skeptical.
2. Choose a high-value problem that has a real impact on your business. You want to end your first project looking like a champ.
3. Have a clear initiative that is achievable in 90 days. Try to remove red tapes and limit the amount of stakeholders who need to give input. Dragging out a proof-of-concept is a lose-lose scenario.

Good luck!

Let’s discuss

1. Do you think companies are really risk-averse toward AI? Why or why not?
2. How should businesses tackle risks in adopting AI?