Why AI?
Fear and Excitement in
“Game Changing”
environment
- original article by Mr Nishida
I have never seen any greater “game changer” as Artificial Intelligence (AI) came to public in 2022. Back in 1992, I remember my brother who was computer science major in college studying AI and told me stories about how future would be changed by this technology. Now it started to become “Real”.
My biggest fear is… Less Sales
Myself, I have been business owner for the past 15 years running consulting firm, accounting firm and even retail shop business here in Singapore as well as Vietnam.
This game changer, AI, will drastically improve labour-driven works into fully automated works (a combination of AI-bots) to complete most of our works, especially market like Singapore where the government set very clear logic, compared to other Asian countries.
My Biggest excitement is… Exponential increase in Values
This is exactly how I feel since 2022.
I am so excited to create True Values to our customers with “New” possibilities.
The Current Business Landscape: AI as a Necessity
Singapore has positioned itself as a major hub for innovation, particularly in the financial and corporate sectors. MNCs require seamless, efficient processes that not only save time and reduce costs but also ensure compliance across various regions.
This is where AI comes in. It has become a necessity, not just an advantage, for several reasons:
- Competitors are more Global Now
In today’s businesses world, we face our competitors, but they are not just local competitors but with upgraded technologies, we face competitors from everywhere. With companies from all over the world vying for market share, every business needs to catch up its speed in innovation and efficiency by adopting AI early to get ahead. - Business now is used to make Data-Driven Decisions
With the surge of big data, businesses is required to manage, analyse, and draw insights from vast amounts of information. In most cases, these data & information are not ready to use and literally scattered all over in employees’ possession. However, once all data is ready, AI enables faster and more accurate data analysis, helping businesses make informed decisions swiftly. - Automation, Efficiency and Multi-Language
Before 2022, we had Digital Transformation (DX) trends in our work process improvement by using software such as automation anywhere. It was a time when it required a complex programming to make a simple process of scan, read and send invoices to customers. Now tasks that were once time-consuming can now be automated using AI. This is particularly beneficial in areas like accounting, auditing, and compliance, where precision and speed are crucial. Automation helps reduce human errors and frees up employees to focus on strategic tasks. On top of them, AI already shows potential to break our “Language Barriers” as well. - Customer Expectations are Changing
Let’s put ourselves in customers’ shoes. In general, we became lazy, impatient and overload of information. Today’s customers, whether individuals or businesses, expect more personalized and responsive services. AI , as back-end operation or front-end communicator, enables this by predicting customer needs and tailoring experiences to meet their expectations, improving customer satisfaction and eventually loyalty.
I understand at this point what AI is capable of. At the same time, leading companies such as GAFA employed many to make AI smarter and once AI become smart enough to learn itself, let many go.
This is not what many business owners want. This could be ego but without ego, we become less human, right?
Also, many people are encouraged to learn How to prompt, How to communicate, How to effectively speak to AI, which smartly named “Prompt Engineering”. Yes, I am on a side of promoting self-learning and study for everyone. However, if you follow the current trends in improving AI to communicate with human better, all of your learning won’t be relevant in the future. Are you competing with AI for learning speed?
So, I believe it must be Co-Working style together with AI and Human. What can we bring to the table?
AI and Human Expertise: A Powerful Combination
One of our concerns often raised about AI is that it will replace human jobs. It’s true (already happening) that AI will automate many tasks, it’s crucial to recognize that it complements rather than replaces human expertise. In fact, the combination of AI and human intelligence is more powerful than either alone.
Trust me. This is from someone who went through a project to “Clone myself” to replace my own works. I believe unless we face an era where AI becomes sentient who earn citizenship among us to earn income and contribute to self-judged consumptions (except for electricity).
At this moment, AI excels at handling repetitive tasks, processing large volumes of data, and making predictions based on that data as well as communicating with multiple languages. Humans, on the other hand, bring creativity, critical thinking, non-logical decision making and nuanced understanding to the table. When the two are combined, businesses can operate more efficiently while still leveraging the unique strengths of their employees.
For example, one of the AI projects we have done in the past. It was in market research project in retail industry. Due to budget and human labour restraints, the project by human consultants can only put together 2,000+ competitors products data on particular date. We replaced this task with AI-bots with automated data scaping & data filtering capabilities. It generated 10,000+ data within 20 minutes and data is set & ready to use.
The new values we created for this retail industry customers are very clear:
- Human resources to more into “Critical Thinking”: Limited budgets to spend toward human consultants to find “blue ocean” area of their retail markets.
- Updatable Database: More importantly, we all know that a fast-paced retail industry, in order to concrete up “pricing strategy”, we just cannot rely on one database in one particular date. It will be very soon obsolete. It must be updatable at least monthly or ideally weekly. Now the customer can update this database even daily with one click.
Overcoming Challenges in AI Adoption
Benefits of AI are clear now. Implementing AI in our business can come with challenges, especially for industries like accounting and consulting that have traditionally relied on manual processes.
- Connectivity: Integration with Existing Systems
One of the biggest challenges businesses face when adopting AI is integrating it with their existing systems. Existing software and workflows may not be designed to work with AI tools, which can make the transition complex. However, with careful planning and the right partners, this challenge can be overcome. In many cases, AI solutions can be integrated gradually, starting with specific processes before being expanded to the entire business. My recommendation is make it as simple as possible first. I can tell the same thing to any companies just released Microsoft 365 into their organization, too. - Data Security and Privacy
As AI handles “sensitive” financial data or even human resource data, businesses must ensure that these data is secure. In Singapore, where data privacy regulations are strict, it’s essential that AI solutions comply with regulations such as the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). Businesses must make sure that they have the necessary safeguards in place to protect their clients’ and own data.
Maximizing AI’s Potential: A Long-Term Goal
To truly maximize the use of AI, businesses must set a long-term goal. AI is not a quick fix, but rather a tool that can provide ongoing value if integrated thoughtfully into business operations. First question should be rather broader one such as “In our industry, where do we like to position?” (Thinking forward to a combined value with our talents and AI)
One of the keys to success is to continuously evaluate and improve your AI systems. As AI technology evolves, new tools and techniques will become available, and businesses must be agile enough to adapt. Regularly reviewing your AI strategies and making adjustments based on the latest advancements will ensure that you stay ahead of the competition.
From my experience, definitions of “what’s possible” 1 year ago and now are different. It’s becoming one of the top management’s duties to catch up with this speed of AI evolution.
I wish you all the best luck, and in a few years, I hope to bring to Singapore one of the most efficient work places in the world where many Human staffs are working coherently with AI digital staff.