This article is part of The Davos Agenda.
- The C-suite needs to consider questions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) from many angles, ranging from its strategic implications to new business risks.
- Unlike previous technologies, AI has the ability to make increasingly complex decisions enabling new business opportunities, but with AI decision making also comes AI responsibility.
- Making responsible AI part of a business' operations requires the adoption of new practices and of appropriate AI governance.
- Explore the new toolkit here.
Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) have grown in recent years and discussions are now shifting from how to create business value with AI to how to do so in a responsible and ethical way. Given the potential of AI for value creation, disruption and destruction, it is imperative for executives to better understand and manage "the Art of the Possible and the risks of what is possible” with this technology.
To do so, C-suite executives need to ask the right questions of themselves and their teams. They need to ask not only about what strategic options AI can create but also what can make AI risky and what types of risks they need to consider when deploying AI. They need to identify the most effective organizational design to embed AI across an organization and think about AI governance. This must include what practices organizations can use to ensure AI is deployed ethically, in compliance with new regulations and with a focus on ensuring their customers’ and other stakeholders’ trust.
For complex topics such as the implications of AI for business and society, asking the right questions can be as important – or more important – than identifying the potentially many “right” answers. Moreover, getting answers to the questions AI raises requires a multi-faceted approach and holistic understanding of AI that spans technical, organizational, regulatory, societal and even philosophical factors.
This is the approach we have taken with the World Economic Forum AI C-Suite Toolkit, which has been developed based on insights from industry and academic experts. It aims to help executives guide their organizations to take advantage of this technology responsibly.
The promises of AI
Consider the strategic implications of AI, for example. Unlike other technologies, AI has the ability to automatically (or semi-automatically) make decisions, from what products to recommend to which customers; to how to prioritize customers or even patients in medical triage cases. This creates a fundamental shift in the cost base and scalability of businesses as AI can replace people-dependent, variable costs with the fixed costs of AI-enabled software.
Click here for the original article published on the World Economic Forum
