**Embracing the Transformation of AI: Three Time Horizons for Companies**
**Horizon 1: Rapid Response**
In the short term, companies must actively defend themselves against the disruptive impact of AI. Legal actions, legislation, and public relations should be the main focus. To safeguard their intellectual property, companies need to take legal steps to prevent AI models from stealing their content. It is also crucial to educate political representatives about AI technology and advocate for protective regulations. In addition, companies must take ownership of the AI narrative and ensure their message is heard.
For example, Getty Images filed a lawsuit against AI image company Stable Diffusion for allegedly using over 12 million of its photos to train their AI model. Universal Music Group had to threaten legal action to have Spotify and other streaming services remove a viral AI-generated song that imitated the voices of artists Drake and The Weeknd. Businesses that share information should protect themselves by including clauses in contracts that dictate how their data can be used by AI. Waiting for legislative action is not a viable strategy, as lawmakers may lack a deep understanding of AI. Proactive companies are already implementing precautions, such as adding language in contracts to specify licensing deals for shared data used in AI training.
**Horizon 2: Core Business Innovation**
The three-year horizon is an opportunity for companies to utilize AI to add value, impact, and profitability to their core business activities. By applying AI to both the front-end and back-end processes, companies can embrace these possibilities. AI offers significant opportunities to deliver enhanced value and disrupt existing models in customer-facing operations. Financial advisers, for instance, should be wary of AI advancements unless they are highly sophisticated. AI can also be used to address education challenges, as demonstrated by Khan Academy. Sal Khan, the founder, recognized that AI, specifically ChatGPT, could help overcome the 2 sigma problem in education, where private tutoring outperforms traditional classroom teaching. Khan Academy introduced its “Khanmigo” tutoring coach that provides personalized prompts, suggestions, and feedback to students as they write. With AI, every student could potentially have access to a personal AI tutor. On the backend, AI offers opportunities for increased efficiency and cost reduction. Processes such as mortgage approvals could be expedited in the AI era.
**Horizon 3: A Wisdom Upgrade**
The longest time horizon, spanning a decade, poses the most significant challenge for companies. They must respond with wisdom to the profound societal implications raised by AI. The impact of social media pales in comparison to what AI could potentially unleash. Questions arise about the kind of world we want to live in and the extent to which we are willing to surrender our decision-making and humanity to AI. Recognizing these concerns, various groups, including songwriters, photographers, and baseball players, have formed the Human Artistry Campaign to prevent the erosion of culture and art by AI.
The broader implications of AI remain unclear. We do know that routine and shallow work can be easily automated, allowing AI to write emails or perform simple tasks. However, more complex endeavors like writing a moving autobiography would be much harder for AI to accomplish. Therefore, companies should focus on developing capabilities related to trust-building, deep work, and wisdom. It is crucial to nurture leaders who possess not only intelligence but also wisdom to navigate through ambiguity. In the current AI landscape, led by highly intelligent but possibly lacking in wisdom individuals, future generations may perceive their decisions as shortsighted and even immoral.
**Embracing AI Transformation: Planning for the Future**
Companies must recognize the transformative power of AI and proactively respond to its emergence. By strategically planning and taking action across different time horizons, they can safeguard their business, innovate core operations, and address the larger societal implications of AI. Failure to do so could result in dire consequences. It is essential for leaders to embrace the possibilities presented by AI and ensure they possess the wisdom required to make informed decisions in an AI-driven world. Ultimately, companies need to be at the forefront of the AI wave rather than waiting for the dust to settle. Only through proactive engagement can they shape their future and thrive in the age of AI.
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