Should Jeannie implement that chatbots or wait?
If Jeannie want to be seen as a modern and competitive CEO, she should employ the chatbots now.
Justification
History doesn’t favor those who move carefully. It is a wild tradeoff where being careful doesn’t get you the praise it should. In many instances, it is impossible to know just how bad it would have been had you been less careful. Someone can always say your situation was different and claim the bad outcomes from XYZ company wouldn’t have happened with your company. History favors the bold. History favors the people who claim they had no idea pop-up windows would be so insidious. Yes, people think they’re annoying, but companies have made profits likely in the billions from this one innovation. Being morally opposed to popup windows didn’t make any companies any money.
The biggest mistake I see being made here are the plans for reduction in human capital. Laying off 30% of the workforce in favor of these AI bots is extremely risky behavior. If a legislative ruling comes down that prohibits the use of generative AI, this company would be absolutely scrambling. It would likely be a death blow to the organization. It is my belief that the company should take on debt to implement the AI, hoping that the long-term growth justifies the short-term expense, while maintaining their workforce. Giving up their short-term bottom line goals in favor of long-term profits and workforce retention is definitely the right move.
Here is my justification why: I’ve noticed recently that I’ll write an email or a short response that sounds almost AI-generated. If I put it through an AI-detector, it will have some non-trivial reporting of potential AI-generation. Over the last year using chatGPT to polish my thoughts and responses, I’ve learned to incorporate the transitions, vocabulary, and content architecture of generative AI. I’ve learned so much from its use that, were it to disappear tomorrow, I would be better off for the time I spent using it. Businesses have the same opportunity to use generative AI as a super-mentor—protecting their organization from over-dependence on AI while reducing the workload for their existing workforce. Generative AI is great, and it does, as John states, “learn” over time. But using generative AI out of the box at this point would forfeit years of company history and intricate interpersonal details that are so important to healthy business relationships.
