Accenture's Paul Daugherty Discusses Business Potential of Artificial Intelligence

Businesses that combine the capabilities of machines and humans together spur innovation, creating job openings such as artificial intelligence (AI) interaction designer, AI innovation strategist, AI personality trainer, and AI safety engineer. These jobs belong to the "missing middle," opportunities for organizations to bring people and machines together, said Paul Daugherty, Accenture's chief technology and innovation officer, during a talk at the Evanston campus's Kellogg Global Hub on October 30. More than 300 students, faculty, and staff listened to the author of the new book, Human Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI. "We're at a point where it's really important to rethink our organizations and rethink the way we do business," Daugherty said. "We have the potential to really be entering an era of increased humanity and increased human potential, and that's why this is an especially important thing to get right as we think about it." Currently, businesses utilizing AI often evaluate how humans can help machines or how machines can help humans work, but Daugherty encourages organizations to think about how to embrace collaboration between humans and machines, rather than viewing them in opposition.