It’s been just one year since generative AI (GenAI) mania hijacked the news cycle and set in motion a tidal wave of new tech innovation and rampant speculation about our work lives changing forever. It was November 30, 2022, when the AI research and development firm OpenAI released the demo version of its ChatGPT software, and, over the twelve months that followed, we’ve seen no shortage of interest in and drama surrounding GenAI.
As if to punctuate the one-year anniversary, OpenAI’s board of directors ousted its CEO, Sam Altman; its president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, resigned in protest; both were temporarily hired by Microsoft and, by Thanksgiving, both were reinstated at OpenAI. Meanwhile, virtually every business in the world has refocused their tech strategies around GenAI.
For those of us working in tax, legal and risk-related professions, the topic has taken on particular urgency as it’s quickly become clear that some of the most viable use cases for this powerful technology are things we do every day, like research, auditing, and contract review and drafting. For all of the attention GenAI has received in this space, though, few commentators have really captured the full potential of the technology to help knowledge workers up their games.
Much of the discussion surrounding the rapid-fire adoption of generative AI (GenAI) solutions in the professional services space has centered on productivity. The conventional wisdom has been that by automating repetitive, time-consuming and tedious tasks, over-worked professionals will be able to get more done in less time. So, in theory, things like complex accounting audits that used to require hundreds of hours scouring spreadsheets, exhaustive legal research that kept first- and second-year associates logging 80-hour workweeks, and sprawling vendor screening analyses for which there never seemed to be enough time in the day, will all get much easier.
While all those things are true, the reduction of GenAI to a mere efficiency play is significantly underselling its potential to create entirely new opportunities for professionals to reinvent themselves. We’ll surely be able to get more done faster, but is that the end game? The real GenAI breakthrough will only come when the humans who use it start leveraging their newfound tech-assisted superpowers to not only move faster, but also transform the way they work. The exciting part is that’s already starting to happen.
Based on the proof-of-concept solutions and real-world implementations of GenAI I’ve seen over the course of this year,the following are key areas where I expect it to really reshape knowledge work over the next twelve months as professionals start to refine its use.
New Product and Services Growth
The first area where we’re going to see GenAI have a huge impact is changing the pace at which new products and services will be conceptualized and launched. In fact, Thomson Reuters recently surveyed more than 1,200 professionals working across legal, tax and accounting, global trade and risk and compliance industries to find out how they are currently using—and plan to use—GenAI in their businesses. We found that, among in-house accounting, corporate counsel and risk teams, the top areas where they feel AI will help are enabling company growth and enabling the development of new products and/or services.
Digging further into the data, we found that more than two-thirds (72%) of professionals within corporate legal and tax departments predict a shift to more consultative advice as a result of the growth of GenAI. What’s happening is that the work being driven by GenAI is not only giving professionals more time to think strategically, it’s giving them the information they need to partner with the rest of the organization and play an active role in new product and service development.
Improved Forecasting
A big part of that improved level of collaboration and team-driven product development will come from dramatically improved forecasting capabilities. In accounting departments, for example, AI-powered actuarial models and business intelligence tools are making it possible to model the impact of countless different business scenarios and macroeconomic events on company financials.
AI can also assist with identifying customer needs and impacts of changing regulations and legislation much faster than we have been able to identify these needs and impacts through manual practices, and that opens tremendous new opportunities to improve the accuracy and consistency of business and risk forecasting.
Democratization of Information
AI will also play a huge role in breaking down data silos within large organizations. While much of the attention on GenAI has been focused on its outputs, the data that go into programming these large language models is even more important when it comes to generating accurate, unbiased results. That need for comprehensive data has become a forcing mechanism for corporations to start breaking down silos and making true cross-enterprise data available so knowledge workers can see the complete picture when developing new strategies.
These changes will not happen overnight, and we will certainly see some challenges along the way. Recently, Elon Musk announced the launch of a new GenAI software that was designed to answer questions “with a bit of wit and a rebellious streak.” The news followed shortly after an executive order from President Biden calling for new standards for AI safety and security. We are clearly in a period of rapid change and uncertainty when it comes to the future of this technology.
However, we are also living in an era of unprecedented adaptability, where businesses and professionals are ready to shake up the status quo. It will be a fascinating year ahead.
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