Gartner Said This About ChatGPT

Publish Date

Nov 18, 2024 08:00

Word Count

1641 words

Status

Published

Campaign

Excerpt

The impact of generative AI will grow as people and enterprises discover more innovative applications for the technology in daily work and life.

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Notes

Summary by Notion AI

Generative AI is predicted to become a general-purpose technology with impact similar to steam engines and electricity

By 2026, over 100 million humans are expected to collaborate with "robocolleagues" in enterprise work

ChatGPT and similar AI tools will augment tasks rather than replace entire jobs initially

AI will focus on automating repetitive, high-volume tasks to improve efficiency and productivity

The workforce impact will vary by industry, with new jobs created and existing roles redefined

Gartner Nailed it in 2023

Gartner described what “AI From The Trenches” is about. Which is fortunate, because I was struggling.

Today I was looking for Gartner insights to help me understand GenAI. I was researching for my CRM blog but I found two concepts which perfectly capture the “AI From The Trenches” main blog focus.

Innovative Applications for AI in Daily Work and Life

On their GenAI topic page, Gartner discussed the impact vs hype of Generative AI. In summarising their FAQs on ChatGPT, they posed the question, “What’s behind the sudden hype about generative AI?”

They said:

Gartner sees generative AI becoming a general-purpose technology with an impact similar to that of the steam engine, electricity and the internet. The hype will subside as the reality of implementation sets in, but the impact of generative AI will grow as people and enterprises discover more innovative applications for the technology in daily work and life.

Thank you, Gartner! That’s what made me start a blog that’s bigger than CRM. I’m feeling “…the impact of generative AI,” as I “discover more innovative applications for the technology in daily work and life.”

Robocolleagues

I’ve been writing about “human-AI collaboration”. You may have heard the term, “robocolleagues”.

To feel the impact (vs hype) of that concept, first I needed to work with a robocolleague. Then I needed to read the term in its context today. After experiencing human-AI collaboration in practice, truly it is amazing to consider this Gartner prediction from 2023:

By 2026, over 100 million humans will engage robocolleagues (synthetic virtual colleagues) to contribute to enterprise work.
— Frances Karamouzis, Gartner

Click on “Meet The Team” to meet my personal robocolleagues!

FAQs on ChatGPT at Work

You can find well-informed answers to 32 questions about ChatGPT in this pdf: Gartner Addresses Frequently Asked Questions on ChatGPT (2023). Data and analytics leaders can use this research to get answers to their questions on ChatGPT and GenAI.

At the time of writing this post, the Gartner research was nearly 2 years old (published Feb ‘23). No doubt it’ll be superceded soon, but today they’re still leading with it on the front of their GenAI topic page. I’d agree with their implicit point that the answers remain accurate in November ‘24.

How Generative AI Will Transform Our Careers

Here are Gartner’s answers to 4 questions which I found relevant to my career and yours. They cover ChatGPT in enterprise, ChatGPT threat to jobs, ChatGPT impact on the workforce, and Gartner’s prediction for the future of the enterprise.

What role will ChatGPT play in the enterprise?

ChatGPT, and foundation models like it, will be used as a tool alongside many other hyperautomation and AI innovations. It will form part of architected solutions that automate, augment humans or machines, and autonomously execute business and IT processes. As generative AI takes its place alongside existing approaches to work, ChatGPT or other competitors will be used to replace, recalibrate and redefine some activities and tasks that form part of many job roles.

Will ChatGPT replace jobs?

Initially, ChatGPT will augment targeted activities or tasks, rather than entire jobs. This will likely be followed by future versions of ChatGPT, as well other tools and combinations of tools, that will go beyond augmenting and likely start executing targeted activities or tasks. This will require testing, quality control, guardrails and governance.

What is the magnitude of workforce impact?

There will be new jobs created, while others will be redefined. The net change in the workforce will vary dramatically depending on factors such as industry, location, and the size and offerings (products or services) of the enterprise. However, it is clear that the use of tools such as ChatGPT (or competitors), hyperautomation and AI innovations will focus on tasks that are repetitive and high-volume, with an emphasis on efficiency, such as reducing cycle time, increasing productivity and improving quality control (reducing error rates), among others.

What is Gartner’s prediction for the future of the enterprise?

Gartner’s strategic planning assumption is that by 2026, over 100 million humans will engage robocolleagues (synthetic virtual colleagues) to contribute to enterprise work. This will not be powered only by ChatGPT (or competitors); rather, it will involve a number of other technologies and solutions.

Thus AI From The Trenches.