Study reveals when you shouldn't use AI

AI systems like ChatGPT and Co. can be helpful at work. But a study now shows when you should avoid using artificial intelligence at work.

Since the release of ChatGPT, developments around AI systems have exploded. More and more such systems are therefore finding their way into everyday work.

These can be quite helpful if, for example, you can't immediately think of a suitable wording. But should AI systems really be used in all areas of the world of work? A study comes to the opposite conclusion.

ChatGPT and Co. at work

There is probably no question that artificial intelligence will turn the world of work as we know it upside down. Exactly what these changes will look like is still up in the air.

AI systems like ChatGPT and Co. are already being used in many places – including at work. But in which areas should AI systems actually be used?

The study “How People Can Create – and Destroy – Value with Generative AI” addressed this question. The study, led by François Candelon from the Boston Consulting Group, looked at the added value that people can create and destroy with generative AI.

To do this, Candelon conducted an experiment with its own employees. Compared to the Wall Street Journal The manager explains that with this research he wanted to find out how people and AI can work together to create added value for a company.

This is how the experiment was set up

Candelon has involved more than 750 employees in its AI experiment. These should perform various tasks and use GPT-4 from OpenAI for this.

All tasks revolved around “creative product innovation”. In particular, participants should plan, among other things, a successful introduction to social networks.

When should you not use ChatGPT at work?

Basically, the employees who used the AI ​​system for their tasks performed significantly better than their colleagues without AI help. Accordingly, the participants were able to achieve a 40 percent higher level of performance.

But that doesn't apply to all areas. In tasks in which problems were to be solved, the study participants with AI support performed 23 percent worse.

Additionally, because AI systems provide “relatively uniform output,” the diversity of ideas in a group can decrease by 41 percent. Nevertheless, Candelon sees the use of artificial intelligence as inevitable.

“There is this famous quote that says humans will not be replaced by AI. It will be replaced by people using AI,” he explains to the WSJ. To do this, people would have to rethink their current work processes.

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