Is AI Impact on Your Job As A Manager?

Goldman Sachs thinks that around 300 million jobs, including those of managers, could be affected by automation from popular AI tools like ChatGPT. However, whether AI will take your job depends on the situation. If a job is exposed to automation, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will vanish completely. Instead, some tasks within the job might just be automated.

Looking at past experiences with new technologies like electricity, mass transit, and computers, we can find reassurance. Even though these changes required some adjustments, they ended up significantly increasing productivity. That’s why it’s not unexpected that, a decade after a study from Oxford suggested that 47 percent of jobs in the US could be automated, we now have historically low unemployment rates.

Instead of worrying if ChatGPT will take away managers’ jobs, the real question is how it will alter their roles and tasks.

To get ahead, companies either excel in tough competition or steer clear of it altogether. Followers of the Blue Ocean strategy usually lean towards the second option.

Searching for new and unique ideas, known as “blue ocean ideas,” isn’t something that generative AI, like ChatGPT, excels at. These AI models learn from existing data and generate content with similar patterns and structures.

Managers usually use analogies in their thinking. We used to believe that machines couldn’t do this, but a recent test by Maciej Workiewicz from ESSEC Business School, Phanish Puranam from INSEAD, and Prothit Sen from the Indian School of Business proves that machines can, and they’re even better at it than humans.

Managers usually use analogies in their thinking. We used to believe that machines couldn’t do this, but a recent test by Maciej Workiewicz from ESSEC Business School, Phanish Puranam from INSEAD, and Prothit Sen from the Indian School of Business proves that machines can, and they’re even better at it than humans.

In a test, MBA students and ChatGPT (GPT-4) were given two stories. One talked about survivor bias, and the other was a common tale about treating a tumor in radiology. The tumor story emphasized that using various sources of radiology is effective, while a single source could harm the patient. Afterward, the participants were presented with two business scenarios that could be solved by drawing analogies from these stories. The problems were made by the authors to ensure they weren’t part of the model’s training data.

When the AI model was allowed to use past stories, it performed very well and clearly outshone the humans. Without any clues, it was challenging to distinguish between the responses of AI and human subjects. Likewise, when ChatGPT made mistakes, they often resembled the kind of errors humans might make.

Workiewicz mentioned that “We are finding that what works really well is to offer several models and ChatGPT checks which one is the best fit. So if you, like Charlie Munger, have several models in mind when you want to figure out how promising a business idea is, you can use the tool to check whether an idea matches one of the models.”

One of the main tasks for managers is to make sure people do what they need to do. Often, plans don’t succeed when put into action. This is something machines can’t do. For managers, it’s most effective when they include people. Here, AI tools can be useful because they allow a lot of people to join in. In a big discussion group with thousands of members, AI can assist moderators in bringing together different ideas, both in real time and when looking back later.

ChatGPT can assist in transforming a dull strategy that nobody recalls into a memorable and engaging story.

Managers play a crucial role in guiding and teaching others to prepare for their jobs. This is especially important for those aiming to become managers themselves, as training is a key part of their path. While it might be tempting to substitute face-to-face training with ChatGPT, using AI as a trainer raises some interesting points.

Managers also have an important role in guiding and teaching people to prepare them for their jobs. In a study comparing chess players from the Soviet Union and the West, those who trained with chess computers were better at the game but struggled to take advantage of mistakes made by others. Humans, including your competitors, make mistakes, and it’s essential to capitalize on them. If your team relies solely on machine training, they might become overly focused on being rational and miss out on these opportunities.

Breaking down what managers do into different tasks shows that AI mainly works together with them. However, if people don’t want to adapt or can’t, they might find it challenging. Another study by James Hayton from Warwick Business School looked at jobs and AI in general and showed a positive outlook, especially if companies help workers learn the right skills.