Academe, private sector told to develop AI-ready workers

Putting serious emphasis on the crucial role of Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence), not just for companies to thrive, but for the working community to get ahead with the technology and continue to be relevant, there is a need for the academe and the private sector to work together and prepare for the workforce transformation.

This is the recommendation made by Accenture Philippines country managing director and technology lead Ambe Tierro, in her recent visit to Cebu during the Contact Center Association of the Philippines Contact Islands 2023 Summit.

While re-assuring that the entry of GenAI will surely not replace jobs for humans, the working community and those who are yet to enter the employment world should be able to work with AI, which means that deeper knowledge about AI should be incorporated in the universities as this will become one of the foundations in getting employment shortly.

According to Tierro students of this generation should be encouraged to take up technology-related courses regardless of jobs as AI s influence is set to permeate all facets of various industries.

 The intervention should start as early as in the primary level of education,  she suggested.

According to Accenture s annual Technology Vision trends report entitled  Technology Vision,  98 percent of global executives believe AI foundation models will play an important role in their organization s strategy in the coming years.

Likewise, another Accenture report explained that Generative AI advances in language-based AI are ushering in a new era for Total Enterprise Reinvention, one of the five key forces that can shape the success of businesses moving forward.

Recent advances in language-based AI represent a fundamental change in the way people work and access information, potentially, shaping the future of science, enterprise data, as well in the design and manufacture of products and so much more.

 We are undoubtedly seeing a resurgence of AI as interest continues to grow globally for Generative AI or language-based AI and how these game-changing technologies can potentially transform and shape the future of businesses and societies. Our latest research tells us that 98 percent of the global executives surveyed think that AI will play an important role in their strategies in the next three to five years while 97 percent agree that AI foundation models will revolutionize how and where AI is used in industries,  noted Tierro.

And that is why we are continuing to focus on helping our clients get ready to leverage AI s value for their business by building their digital core, harnessing cloud-based platforms, getting their data accessible, and pivoting to new ways of working,  she continued.

Globally, Accenture is investing $3 billion investment over the three years in its data and AI practice to help clients across all industries rapidly and responsibly advance and use AI to achieve greater growth, efficiency, and resilience.

In a statement, Julie Sweet, Accenture chair and chief executive officer said that companies that build a strong foundation of AI by adopting and scaling it now, where the technology is mature and delivers clear value, will be better positioned to reinvent, compete and achieve new levels of performance.

Therefore, the existence of AI or GenAI  will never  replace human jobs, rather it will enhance the human s capabilities to do things and make things easier while performing more complex tasks with higher paychecks.

GenAI, as a co-pilot, creative partner or advisor, will advance human capabilities, and overall, its impact will be a net gain for people and skills as these technologies will open up more opportunities to create talent, upskill people for new roles and higher value work,  said Tierro.

Accenture Technology, group chief executive Paul Daugherty warned that over the next decade, AI will be a  mega-trend  which will transform industries, companies, and the way people do things and live and work, as GenAI is expected to transform at least 40 percent of all working hours.

One of Accenture s strategies, Tierro explained is doubling its AI talent to 80,000 professionals through a mix of hiring, acquisitions, and training.

Success with generative AI requires equal attention on people and training as it does on technology. Companies should dramatically ramp up investing to build talent to develop and use generative AI,  she said.

During the recently concluded Contact Islands Conference organized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) held in Cebu, CCAP managing director Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury reiterated that contrary to common assumption, AI is seen to bolster the sector s productivity instead of threaten jobs.

We are confident that the target employment figure (2.5 million workforce by 2028) will be achieved even with the emergence of generative AI. GenAI can enhance the strengths of our Filipino agents who can then focus on active listening and become more empathetic and engaging when rendering service to our customers,  Bradbury said.

GenAI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content, including text, imagery, audio, and synthetic data. The recent buzz around genAI has been driven by the simplicity of new user interfaces for creating high-quality text, graphics, and videos in a matter of seconds.

A few of the most popular genAI interfaces today include ChatGPT, Dall-E, and Bard.