The conversation around AI at the moment is almost inescapable, but how much of it is just the flash of a fun new toy, and how much of it heralds real change to the ways we live and work? Is AI the next big thing, or do tools like ChatGPT misrepresent the real value of AI in the workplace as something that is already proving invaluable to many?

Recently we asked our Technology Leaders Club community a question – Do you think AI is going to be a necessary tool for modern businesses?

We had some illuminating responses…

[Responses have been edited for clarity]

“I think the AI could quickly become an important tool for a lot of businesses, but not without proper rules and guidelines in place. As more people get involved in the AI space, what can and can’t be done needs to be defined and set out as there are no rules for this new paradigm.”

“AI is here to stay and is only going to get better. Our organisation has been implementing an AI automation strategy to manage threat detection, without which we would be completely swamped by alerts.”

“In all of the discussions around AI, rarely do I hear people talking about how it might enrich our lives. These conversations usually revolve around being more profitable and efficient, but I think there is a lot more value to AI. I think the value of AI for modern businesses will be in its ability to alleviate workloads and maybe give employees more time to enjoy their lives.”

“AI is something my organisation wants to invest in. We’re moving to being more data-driven but processing and understanding the data we need, at the speed we need, just isn’t possible right now. I think AI is going to become the norm for most businesses as operational need outstrips what staff are capable of managing.”

“There is so much to AI that isn’t being discussed in the public marketplace of ideas, its potential impact is unfathomable to most of us right now. Being at the precipice as we are, I think that if businesses do not embrace AI now, they will quickly get left behind, not because AI will solve all our problems, but because we all need to work together to start understanding what an AI future looks like for better and worse.”

“AI is shaping up to be everything we wanted it to be for a long time. Yes, it needs to be properly understood first, but what it will enable us to do when used correctly is going to be what sets businesses apart in the future.”

“AI isn’t some magical tool that will come in and immediately fix everything. It has potential for certain tasks, but a huge amount of human effort will be required to get that off the ground. Ultimately, AI is just another tool – not necessarily a gamechanger.”

“We are still at the research stage. AI is something we are looking into, but not with any great urgency at the moment. There may come a time where that changes, but right now it’s a lot of buzz without much need.”

“AI, machine learning, and automation are all super critical in my organisation. We’re a large operation that absolutely needed the means to filter out some of the day-to-day noise. Since implementing them we have seen huge returns in time and our teams have been able to spend more time prioritising more pressing work. If AI isn’t necessary now, it will be soon as businesses without it simply won’t be able to keep up.”

We were surprised by the breadth of your responses. Broadly speaking, those who are currently using AI have been impressed by it’s capabilities, but a lot of you still remained sceptical about the technology in its current state. Some other responses that we haven’t shared worry about cost and the ethics, while a few are perfectly happy to ignore AI altogether!

We’d like to thank our Technology Leaders Club members who took the time to give their response. We look forward to challenging our community again soon!