What is AI Human Augmentation?
In today’s modern business world, it’s essential leaders stay ahead of their competitors to achieve the very best they can in their chosen field.
Those of you who follow my monthly blogs, will know the importance I place on resilience as an important trait in business success.
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) - a worldwide federation of national standards bodies – defines resilience as: 'The ability of a business to absorb and adapt in a changing environment to enable it to deliver its objectives and to survive and prosper.'
Quite simply, resilience is the ability to learn from your setbacks and mistakes. This is why I define Resilience as “Springing Forward with Learning”.
Resilient small business owners and Leaders learn how to turn mistakes into opportunities. They learn to look past the immediate setbacks and keep their eyes firmly on the long-term goal.
The details of the setback or the finer points of the mistake don’t matter. Instead, what matters is how business owners deal with those setbacks and keep moving forward.
Whilst several years ago business leaders could have achieved resilience by themselves, today they need the support of others to add increased value to their own strengths.
This is by no means any sort of reflection on their own qualities but a recognition of the strength of “power in numbers” or “two minds are better than one.”
This latter saying is a proverb which emphasises the benefits of collaboration and teamwork. It suggests that when two or more people work together, they are more likely to solve a problem or achieve a goal than if they were working alone.
This is because different perspectives, skills, and ideas can be pooled - leading to more creative solutions and a wider range of options to consider.
Indeed, popular children’s author C.S. Lewis summed up this concept succinctly when he said: “Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction.”
Whilst we may naturally take the meaning ‘two heads’ to be two human people, advances in science technology mean we should now think wider and more creatively and consider other ‘tools’ as part of the meaning of these ‘heads.’
And one tool which is starting to have a major impact on today’s working environment is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
How will you ensure that AI will enhance your already high-performing team? Photo Ngyuen Thu Hoai Unsplash
Explained simply, AI is the ability of computer systems to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
AI systems can be designed to analyse data, recognise patterns, and make predictions or take actions based on that analysis.
As the importance of AI continues to grow, the concept of AI Human Augmentation has been introduced.
But what exactly is this, how can we develop it, what’s its importance, and what are the benefits?
These are the questions I want to provide you my thoughts on in this latest series of blogs.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) states “augmentation means the act or process of increasing the amount, value, or size of something. It can also refer to the result of this process, essentially an addition or increase.”
Human augmentation in AI refers to the use of artificial intelligence to enhance human capabilities, rather than replace them.
It's about leveraging AI to improve human performance, health, or quality of life by assisting, supporting, and extending human abilities.
This often involves integrating AI systems with human decision-making, allowing humans to leverage AI's capabilities to perform tasks more effectively and efficiently.
Human augmentation in AI emphasises the collaborative aspect where AI acts as a tool to amplify human potential, rather than taking over human tasks entirely.
Human augmentation can be broadly categorised into:
Augmented senses - extending or enhancing human senses through technology, such as improving hearing with cochlear implants or vision with retinal implants;
Augmented action - assisting or amplifying physical actions, like using AI-powered tools for remote control;
Augmented cognition - improving cognitive functions like memory, decision-making, and problem-solving through AI-driven tools and systems.
Look out for the next articles in this series – “How to develop human augmentation,” “The importance of AI human augmentation,” and “The benefits of AI human augmentation.”
If you need further information about these approaches, or any other resilience topic, please contact russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.