Robot Overlords: AI At Facebook, Amazon, Disney And Digital Transformation At GE, DBS, BNY Mellon

A robot overlord adjusts Rob's Open Source Android (ROSAL) at the London Science Museum (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Searching recently for evidence of artificial intelligence taking over our jobs, lives, and everything else, Tom Davenport came up empty. "Nary a robot overlord to be found," he declared at the 14th MIT Sloan CIO Symposium. A day later, at the 3rd RE•WORK Deep Learning Summit, I found many humans who are successfully lording over robots, telling their artificial intelligence creations how to perform a number of narrow cognitive tasks. Davenport, who has published eighteen books on topics ranging from managing organizational data and processes to leading with AI and analytics, is working on his next one, tentatively titled The Cognitive Company. Throughout his distinguished career in a field littered with "hype cycles," Davenport has opted to respond with healthy skepticism to the typical breathless and enthusiastic pronouncements regarding the latest new new thing.