From newspapers to world leaders, everyone is talking about what machine intelligence and robotics could and might do for businesses. With all the buzz it is generating, AI is rapidly emerging as a lucrative technology. By 2035, global consulting firm Accenture has suggested that AI could add an estimated £654 billion to the UK economy. The upcoming Government Digital Strategy will formalise the UK's investment in cutting-edge technologies and aims to position the country as a pioneer in the field. While there is much fascination (and profit) surrounding AI across various sectors, there is also an anxiety over the future of machine intelligence and its impact on human jobs.

Marketers should use artificial intelligence (AI) to solve problems, not just because it's the latest fad. That was the consensus at the mainstage keynote at the MarTech conference on Wednesday morning. Adelyn Zhou, co-founder and head of marketing at AI firm TOPBOTS, and Jason Heller, partner, global lead of digital marketing operations and technology at consulting firm McKinsey & Company, gave spirited talks about AI and machine learning. "Don't look at AI as a solution looking for a problem," Heller said in his portion of the talk. "Ask yourself, 'What is the problem I'm trying to solve?'" "I can't promise a silver bullet," Zhou said.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all about augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing humans with machines, says global IT consultancy firm Accenture in a new book. Titled "Human Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI", the book is co-authored by Paul Daugherty, Accenture's Chief Technology and Innovation officer, and Jim Wilson, Managing Director of Information Technology and Business Research. The authors, who claim to have surveyed more than 1,500 organisations, strongly dismiss what they call a'misconception' that AI systems will replace humans, stating that they should be viewed as a resource to help companies reshape their operations, whether that be in customer service or productivity. While AI is resulting in some jobs being lost, the technology's true power is in augmenting human capabilities, they argue. "In other words, AI isn't about making'artificial' super-humans – but about using technology to give humans'superpowers,' equipping them with new skills and capabilities so that they can achieve more and learn faster," said Daugherty.

AI is already transforming many areas within the private sector, but its enormous disruptive potential won't stop there. The societal and economic innovations created by these technologies will soon have a very real presence in every industry -- including the public sector. The potential for AI to double economic growth rates and increase labour productivity by up to 40% has convinced most citizens of the technology's value in the public sector. While 1 out of 3 individuals believe they don't understand the benefits of AI well enough to judge its use in government despite the majority opinion, these citizens overwhelmingly support government collaboration with AI once educated on how AI can deliver improved services. AI isn't a technology of the future -- it's here now and can't be put off until tomorrow.

This article is part of CMO.com's March/April series about emerging technology. Don't confuse the replacement of duties with the replacement of jobs: It's an important point when it comes to the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce. Not only does the emerging technology promise to free employees of their more mundane responsibilities, it also signals new opportunities for them to learn new skills. Accenture's delivery-centre operation in India–where thousands of employees have not only kept their jobs, but have been reskilled as part of an AI-driven transformation–is a true example. "We don't see it replacing jobs–we see it replacing tasks," said Amit Bansal, Accenture's APAC analytics and artificial intelligence delivery lead.

As AI systems gain increasing "citizenship" in the enterprise, organizations have to ensure the "brains in a box" are adequately trained with enough data sets and content to establish a "bedrock in trust," said Mike Redding, managing director of Strategic Technology Innovation for Accenture, speaking Friday at an Accenture Technology Vision event in Washington D.C. Deployment of AI is complicated, particularly in legacy environments. This challenge has helped give rise to the popularity of robotic process automation (RPA), which is considered "entry level AI," Redding said. Companies can deploy a digital "agent" to the desktop of an employee to augment and streamline tasks, such as those requiring the processing of nuanced regulations. As AI is rolled out, however, companies will need to understand what goes into systems before it is deployed as a way to ensure trust. With the pending GDPR deadline approaching, companies will have to soon explain what goes into AI, Redding said.

Cognitive technologies are transforming everything from customer experience to product development and augmenting or replacing human activity in everything from manufacturing to operations to human resources. They are also beginning to reshape finance--emphasis on the "beginning."1 In the Q3 2017 CFO Signals survey, only 42 percent of responding CFOs said their finance team is knowledgeable about emerging technologies, including cognitive.2 Moreover, only about one-third of CFOs in the same survey said they have moved beyond the pilot stage with these technologies to transform their finance function.3 To find out, Deloitte's recent State of cognitive survey asked 250 "cognitive-aware" US executives from large companies about the current state of cognitive technology within organizations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hotly discussed and debated subject in 2018. From newspapers to world leaders, everyone is talking about what machine intelligence and robotics could and might do for businesses. With all the buzz it is generating, Artificial Intelligence is rapidly emerging as a lucrative technology. By 2035, global consulting firm Accenture has suggested that Artificial Intelligence could add an estimated £654 billion to the UK economy. It comes as little surprise then to see an increasing number of businesses adding AI into their operations.

Paul Daugherty and James Wilson, senior technology leaders at Accenture, argue that robots and smarter computers aren't coming for our jobs. They talk about companies that are already giving employees access to artificial intelligence to strengthen their skills. They also give examples of new roles for people in an AI workplace. Daugherty and Wilson are the authors of the new book Human Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI. SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast, from Harvard Business Review. By now, I'm used to the idea that machines are going to be an ever more present part of work.

AI will augment people's capabilities but won't take all jobs. However, there will be socioeconomic upheaval, warns PwC's authority on AI, Anand Rao. Anand Rao is PwC global leader for artificial intelligence (AI) and is the consulting giant's innovation lead for the US analytics practice. Rao has 24 years of industry and consulting experience, helping senior executives to structure, solve and manage critical issues facing their organisations. He has worked extensively on business, technology and analytics issues across a wide range of industry sectors including financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, aerospace and defence, across US, Europe, Asia and Australia.