With its ever-growing potential AI is quickly emerging as transformative force across industries, poised to reshape how organisations operate, enhance efficiency, and drive growth. Beyond automating repetitive tasks, analysing data, and optimising workflows, AI is also set to supercharge human potential, says Jacky Pfennig, Senior Research Manager at AICPA & CIMA.
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years have forever changed the way we interact with technology.
When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, it revolutionised the field of Generative AI (GenAI) by providing a highly accessible and versatile tool for generating content, including text and images, that were once considered the exclusive domain of human creativity.
Since then, we have seen many more tools, rules, and iterative technological advancements, being launched, further expanding the possibilities and applications of AI in a number of areas, significantly enhancing human potential.
In fact, according to a recent McKinsey report, AI adoption has surged significantly with?78% of organisations?now using AI in at least one business function, up from 72% in early 2024 and 55% a year earlier.
Similarly, the use of GenAI has experienced substantial growth since 2024, with 71% of organisations saying they regularly use it in at least one business function, up from 65% in early 2024.
And with Big Tech companies planning to spend a combined $320 billion on AI this year, it is clear that AI is here to stay.
However, we shouldn’t see ourselves as being in competition for our jobs with AI but rather consider it — and other technologies for that matter — as powerful co-pilots.
The challenge lies in learning how to leverage it effectively through a process of human-AI collaboration to co-create content, even in so-called social intelligence tasks where factors such as tone, nuance, and emotional intelligence are crucial.
This is the issue explored in the latest report from AICPA & CIMA’s Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting Series, titled “Leveraging Generative AI: AI-human Co-creation for Tasks Requiring Social Intelligence”,
Social intelligence is the ability to understand and interact effectively with other people, encompassing skills such as communication, empathy, adaptability, and situational awareness.
This is what enables individuals to build relationships with each other, resolve conflicts when they arise, and navigate social dynamics effectively. Social intelligence is a learned skill developed through interactions with others, including failures, and experiences.
It has traditionally been seen as inherently human due to the complexity of our interactions with others and the need for nuanced understanding.
In the study led by Professor Jasmijn Bol from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA, a research team investigated how GenAI performed in social intelligence tasks.
The team conducted a series of experiments around conflict resolution in the workplace, comparing human performance with AI support to human performance without AI support and explored different ways of integrating AI into the workplace, concentrating on two primary co-creation approaches: AI as the initiator and AI as the feedback provider.
The results of the study were very interesting.
When AI acted as the initiator, the team found that it could easily come up with initial drafts which were then refined and personalised by humans, ultimately transforming the drafts into polished outputs.
Through this approach, the AI handled all the initial heavy lifting and did so quickly, while humans could do what they do best: add nuances, put a personal touch, and use their creativity to produce high-quality content.
This method is probably best suited for tasks that are important but not central to the organisation’s core operations, such as drafting routine internal communications or a one-off email to a stakeholder.
Conversely, when AI served as the feedback provider, the team found that it could help humans improve their work by offering relevant suggestions and identifying areas for enhancement.
In this scenario, the final outputs were polished and well-rounded due to the AI’s analytical capabilities and ability to mimic human-based creativity.
One key difference the team saw with this method was that it fostered a stronger sense of ownership and engagement among participants, as they could actively decide if and how to incorporate AI’s suggestions.
This approach is quite appropriate and helpful for ongoing, high-stakes tasks where consistent improvement and sustained engagement are essential.
The study also highlighted a key risk: GenAI, if not carefully managed, may inadvertently encourage complacency by reducing human engagement in critical and analytical thinking processes.
Therefore, organisations need to strike a balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and maintaining active employee involvement to ensure thoughtful and innovative outcomes.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, effectively integrating AI into workflows is essential for success. It is crucial for organisations to strike a balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and maintaining active employee involvement to ensure thoughtful and innovative outcomes.
In short, employees don’t necessarily need to develop entirely new skill sets, but they must develop a solid understanding of when, why, and how to use AI effectively.
This is especially important for accounting and finance professionals, management accountants in particular, who play a pivotal role in designing systems, processes, and frameworks that align employee efforts with organisational goals.
Designing these systems requires a nuanced understanding of when employees should rely on AI and when they should retain control over tasks.
The integration of AI into our workplaces and daily lives is inevitable and, to a certain extent, beneficial to help us transform how we approach tasks and solve problems.
It’s no longer just about the breadth and depth of our knowledge, but rather our ability to build effective human-AI partnerships and connect the dots. This is how we can harness the full potential of AI while preserving the unique qualities that make us human.