SPOKE: GENERATIVE AI AND COPILOT FOR MICROSOFT 365 - REDUX (i)
Author: TimeWeSpoke
Audience: Business users, Project managers and Change and Adoption roles.
AI's impact is in scaling (for the business user)
It has been 18-months since we at Spoke started the journey investing with Generative AI in its varied forms, and 8-months since we paid for (yes, the full amount) Copilot for Microsoft 365.
In our January article we outlined how we would be using AI through-out the year for external content support, and for internal support and comparing the broad usage of 3 main-stream providers: ChatGPT (3.5, 4.o), Gemini (Google), and Copilot (Microsoft).
While we expend a lot of time investing in use-cases validation, practice and back-office testing what we have learnt is:
Successful use of Generative AI is not through a single set of tools or services
Use-cases are very organisation and role specific and
Best outcomes (using 'prompts') require skill that needs a lot of practice and honing
...but the number one value proposition is:
it provides scaling in ways that would normally require additional people with different skill-sets.
Generative AI service value
We are not talking about scaling the service, a number of users, or even speed of turn-a-round for specific task. Its scaling the individual's impact by providing the equivalent of a virtual team behind the user.
In our view scaling comes from enabling the individual to:
find viable answers to questions in seconds
consolidated and then assimilate volumes of information in minutes
re-factor and refocus their output to suit a given situation or role
... in other words, it gives you the benefit of really fast personal assistant, editor and coach - without employing more people.
The unspoken truth
There is problem though: Generative AI is like you're building a Lego masterpiece without instructions -you don't know if you have enough pieces, or if you have all the right bricks, or even if you are supposed to be making a spaceship or a castle.
The gaps are not talked about - heck they're not even identified as a gap by most people yet, and its these things which can lead to resistance, resentment and perpetuating the current limitations. They are:
the person using the tools needs to know what it is they want to achieve
they need to have an idea or definition of what 'good' looks like, and
the majority will need support in how to articulate this in prompting or interaction
The gotcha here is that the individuals who get the most from this scaling are the ones who understand and can operate across multiple disciplines. People with the ability to assess, absorb and apply new knowledge and tools anyway.
Generative AI will not take a specific person's job. It will enable individuals to achieve the equivalent output of a team of people who understand what is required. For those looking at creative innovation and brand-new ideas - it will continue to be people driven, just not the same ones.
Want to know what we know? Give us a call!
For the best experience for your users, learn how to take Generative AI into day-to-day office productivity, or just learn some of the tricks-of-the-trade? Email us at hi@timewespoke.com
About the author: Jonathan Stuckey
Comments