We’ve entered a period where people and organisations are becoming AI-assisted.
This isn’t a slow transformation it’s happening very, very quickly.
The businesses that act now will have the advantage. Those that wait will be left behind.
We, as a fund, a company called Implement AI, have got a framework where companies can understand what that continuum looks like. It is a continuum. We call it AI-assisted.
So, for 250 years since the pre-industrial revolution humans have used various tools. But cognitively, it was very much human first. Now, with the rise of large language models and diffusion models, that’s changing.
We are going to become AI-assisted. Your employees, your organisation they can be superpowered by this. This isn’t like moving to the cloud, where you can take 10 years. This is happening very, very quickly. It won’t be AI that ruins your business it’ll be your competition using it. You’ve got two to five years to get on board and embed it.
Eventually, we’ll move to AI-first. You won’t trust a human to drive a car in a built-up area. You won’t trust your human lawyer or accountant. You’ll want AI. People will have far more faith in artificial intelligence than in fallible humans.
There’s also the issue of bias. These models are trained on the internet on human data from places like Twitter and Reddit. Bias is embedded into everything we do. Over 100 types of human bias exist. But AI can be fine-tuned to remove bias. In hiring, for example, AI can help eradicate unconscious bias. AI becomes a ruthless optimiser of decision-making.
But there’s a risk too. I spoke at one of the world’s largest cyber companies recently. I said future malware will be designed by AI. They said it’s worse the malware will be an AI. Something intelligent, with an objective, that sits in your system and works out how to achieve it over time. That’s already happening.
So, businesses need an AI policy. Not a standalone one it needs to be embedded into everything, from HR to training. Research says 30% of employees are already using AI. You need to make sure your customer data and company data are being treated correctly.
This is where training becomes really important. It’s not just access it’s knowing how to use it. People need to know how to use AI responsibly. Without policy frameworks, you risk Shadow AI, like Shadow IT where people use tools without control or oversight. That’s dangerous
AI is an extremely powerful technology. The organisations that know how to use it—and embed it safely and strategically will unlock huge value. The rest may not be able to catch up.
Credit to Tabish Ali of The Champions Speakers Agency who assisted in bringing this column together this month.
