By Deborah Jepson |
July 19, 2024
Why Knowledge Managers need to adopt AI
It was great to attend the recent Knowledge and Information Management, Research and Analysis (KIMRA) Generative AI Conference, on 03 July in London.
Designed for Information Management experts who are considering, implementing or using AI, this one-day event brought together leaders of Knowledge Management and Research & Insights teams from various sectors, dedicated to demonstrating how organisations can benefit from the potential and mitigate risks associated with the implementation of Generative AI.
Metataxis Consultant, Sharon Stewart, along with Director, Noeleen Schenk, joined numerous professionals from the fields of information and knowledge management to hear from a fantastic line up of speakers from the world’s top professional services and financial firms sharing the unique issues in their industry with implementation of Generative AI.
Below are their 5 key takeaways:
1. Use cases
We heard some interesting use cases for investing in Gen AI implementation. At the top of the list, AI appears to offer value as an employee productivity tool, able to drive real efficiency gains. We also saw how it can help customer support teams offer an improved customer experience. At the bottom of the list, as much as AI can be applied to improve modelling, simulation, and testing as well as producing rich media content, many organisations are not adopting AI to achieve these options.
The greatest challenge when it comes to Generative AI deployment was, without question, security and data privacy. This was top of the list for every organisation. However, data rights were also revealed as a challenge for many vendors, closely followed by governance – knowing the provenance of the content, and content quality is vital. Many speakers agreed that there is still a lack of understanding regarding the capabilities of Gen AI, and managing both stakeholder and client expectations is still a significant challenge that needs to be addressed.
2. Challenges
3. A new perspective
Many attendees were concerned that Gen AI may replace the need for their skill set and role. However, we were reminded that Gen AI works on consensus, and to drive innovation we need new insights that deviate from the norm. So, rather than take away our roles, we need to understand that Gen AI can actually support us, by providing unique and compelling insights to the data and offering a fresh perspective that we may not have seen before. Knowledge Managers need to see Gen AI as a helpful starting point – not as a solution that will make our role redundant. But at the same time, we will also need to significantly improve information literacy to make it really work.
As information management professionals, the impact of AI Gen on stakeholder engagement is huge. It was recommended that we all need to shift from the typical “no, but…” answer to a more positive “yes, and…” Basically, knowledge teams need to more proactive when it comes to adopting Gen AI in the workplace, armed with the knowledge where it can create value, in particular around enhanced internal productivity and customer gains.
4. A positive approach
5. Can AI really deliver?
Lastly – the big question of the day: “Can Gen AI deliver its promise?” The consensus in the room was “That’s down to us!”
This compelling conference focussed on both the big “strategic view” picture and a more practical application – revealing what and how are people are starting to use Generative AI.
Concludes Noeleen Schenk, Director at Metataxis:
“We both really enjoyed the sessions looking at the transformation and disruption that Generative AI is producing and how it can be harnessed by knowledge teams and research professionals to help drive insights and create value for their organisation. It will be interesting to see how Gen AI develops as more and more Knowledge Teams work with this powerful solution.”
