A featured contribution from Leadership Perspectives: a curated forum reserved for leaders nominated by our subscribers and vetted by the Construction Tech Review Advisory Board.
Project Manager and Capability Lead
Technology is Magic and Madness
Tanya Henshaw
Like the soccer stadium that fills entirely with water in 47 minutes, starting with one drop and ending with you getting very wet, technology is about to overcome us. I use the stadium example of exponential growth because like a sudden rush of water, the technology of today is about to overwhelm us.
It’s clear from what appears to be the sudden rise (but is not) of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) that humans are not prepared for the pace, potential and the changes we must make in the way we work. Which means governments and organisations are also not prepared.
Technology
Humans created technology to help themselves perform tasks. Those tasks have become more and more complex as society developed. Some countries have been working with the problem better than others. Here in Australia, many believe we lag in the digital economy.
What we need is the Australian Government and Public Service to work with the digital and data industry to lead the production of well-kept and distributed data assets, safe from cyber-attacks and used to move the community forward, reduce fraud against the Australian people and assist the workforce of the future.
Robotic process automation easing the burden of repetitive processes; data centre storage across APAC in the trillions of bytes; mobile applications using data and creating digital democracy where there was none. Cloud technology; generative AI, data and digital technology continues to evolve, overwhelm, compliment and mystify the community, many organisations and governments.
With so much to do, how do we keep up when things change in what seems like a drop of water?
Magic
The current data and digital arena also present to us champions for the people, where we’ve all been using AI and data for some time on our smart phones. Improvements and applications that allow hands free dictation, optical character reading, screen reading and descriptions of the environment for visually impaired people improve lives. The New South Wales State Government has led the way in using technology to move previously physical assets such as licences and registration online into mobile apps.
Generative AI is an opportunity to revolutionise the way we work – there are already so many examples of how it can take low complexity but high time and cost tasks and execute in seconds. The opportunity to free up the human mind for higher level, innovative and strategic thinking abounds.
Madness
However, there are very few organisations with strategies ready on how to use this safely. The technology is new and evolving daily; it is an ethical, legal and performance nightmare.
Today, ChatGPT4 is leading the other AI products but as you read this, it might be something new. That’s how fast the pace is. Thinking humans are still (just) smart enough to outsmart these programs. As they learn, are we smart enough to know when they are telling the truth or just humouring us? They are now learning from their own creation but what if their answers were wrong? What about bias and ‘fake news’?
There is the failure of electronic voting systems in Australia and continuing privacy and data security breaches across APAC from Optus, Medibank, Neopets and suspected breaches from Amazon and Microsoft. Personal data released, sold and exploited on the dark web. Scammers will soon be replicating voice and image identification systems.
These malicious incidences are the results of some humans plus technology outsmarting others. In many cases, organisations should have known and done better. The community need protection from the ‘baddies’ and from ourselves in giving away too much of our precious information.
Weaving the magic and madness together
Data and digital is, according to Bill Shorten MP, Minister for Government Services, a place where politics and silos endanger the cohesive approach our societal needs. His solution? To move from the political cycles of both federal and state governments and political parties to a collaborative, long-term view for Australia’s digital economy.
Generative AI is an opportunity to revolutionise the way we work – there are already so many examples of how it can take low complexity but high time and cost tasks and execute in seconds.
Along with our governments and regulatory bodies working to protect the community and its data, we need to harness the human and AI magic within all organisations to improve how work gets done.
The challenge for all is that governance and stewardship of data are, while not new concepts, actions that have not kept pace with the exponential expansion of data and digital technology.
We need lifeguards, safety equipment, guidelines for our stadium not to drown us. Similarly, organisations collecting, using and storing data, and using digital technology needs:
Data quality and stewardship – a clear understanding of what data is needed to be used, stored, and deleted
Data protection and security – these investments will be in the hundreds of millions to protect and manage data and digital assets from the ‘baddies’
Strategy and culture – where the humans understand the ways to use digital assets and protect data; what can and should be shared; what and how data is visualised and accessed by increasing data democracy and literacy.
Continuing capability needs
As the stadium overflows and becomes an ocean, APAC organisations and governments will need to engage human leadership skills to move people into different roles, or perhaps end of roles. This will be across the board as AI interrupts by performing low-level tasks in many white-collar industries. The culture change will be massive. Empathy and psychological safety will be imperative to bring humans along this new wave of capability building.
Further, project management of data and digital initiatives is needed to ensure that this work is managed and delivered effectively. Aligning to organisational strategies and missions should be the priority of these projects. It’s not just about doing a ‘data or digital project’ but about moving the organisation to work better and deliver value to clients, customers, and APAC communities.
90 percent of today’s data has been created in the last two years. Humans are about to be in over their heads. We have three minutes left to break down the silos, create new roles and harness the magic and madness of technology for the world to thrive.
