We have seen progress in recent years. To drive up quality, various key international standards have been put in place – which include the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the 7 Principles of Universal Design, as well as the Government’s UK Social Value focus and expectations.

In the last few years, in the area of assistive technology, as in other areas, we have seen a major shift from hardware and software to more cloud-based solutions, which users can access on the move and not just when on their home computer. The next natural step change will be the increased focus and utilisation of Artificial intelligence (AI). Everyone’s talking about AI and its many benefits now, but most are failing to realise how transformative it could be if it’s used to support accessibility solutions – we don’t often hear about this in the buzz and debate around this burgeoning technology.

From an accessibility and assistive technology point of view these are exciting times with exciting possibilities. AI boasts potential opportunity to build and enable a fully inclusive society.

Neurodiversity and disability in numbers

It’s estimated that around one in seven people (more than 15% of people in the UK) are neurodivergent, meaning that they may learn and process information differently. Neurodivergent conditions include Attention Deficit Disorders, Autism, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia, among others.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, 17.8% of people in England and Wales are disabled, which equates to 10.4 million people. However, other sources suggest that there are a lot more disabled people within the UK. The definition of disability and the methodology used to identify disabled people can vary, which may account for the differences in these figures.

In addition to this it’s important we recognise that whether people are disabled or not, there are levels of challenges that everyone faces. Most people will experience some kind of accessibility challenge in their lifetime, whether it’s temporary like a broken arm, ear infection, or going through menopause; age related, such as hearing loss; or a permanent condition.

So, a lot of people, facing a variety of challenges, could benefit immensely from tools and technology that improve accessibility.

AI assisted tools and accessibility

Technology has played an important role in helping to support people and limit the potential impact of the challenges they face. Many systems originally designed to help specific groups of people have benefitted people outside of those groups. Some of these tools include:

• Microsoft Dictate tool and other voice to text software can help those who struggle to type or work best talking through an idea.
• MS Read Aloud tool can read out a document or presentation helping people to understand and process the information, and it can help with concentration (especially if it’s a lengthy document).
• Audio descriptions which explain what is happening can help those who may suffer with their sight.
• Tools such as CoPilot which use Large Language Models (LLMs)can help summarise and spotlight key information from meetings so people can refer to and digest information in an alternative form.
• Tools such as CoPilot to interpret information and/or create content have the potential to remove challenges and make work easier while improving quality and efficiency.
• LLMs such as ChatGPT and CoPilot can rewrite content in a more casual and easier to understand way. This can help people to read, write and navigate information easier, and remove the reliance on physical and sensory capability.
• Transcripts and captions switched on in meetings and included within videos to support those who may struggle with their hearing or for people accessing content in a noisy environment.

The best types of AI technology are coming from places where they think deeply about inclusive design and accessibility. The future of technology depends on it, because designing tech with accessibility in mind means designing great tech for everyone.

What’s really exciting is that the potential for AI to enhance existing solutions – and create new ones – is vast. I’m hopeful about this untapped potential, and I’m confident that AI holds the key to empowering people and building a more equitable society.

What does the future hold?

There are challenges facing the effective use of all kinds of AI, including biases within the algorithms and the security of tools, so we’ll need to work hard to ensure that the technology is serving people, and supporting an equal and equitable society. The potential benefits that using AI can bring as part of modern assistive technology are obvious, and worthy of focus and commitment.

I think we’ll see greater and easier connection between the different types of assistive technology currently available, which will help all users to reap their benefits. It’s only a matter of time before voice activation applications, screen reader applications, and AI language models come together to support each other – this is where the magic will really happen. It might seem like something out of science fiction but think about how much of what we predicted in the past has become the reality of today – just imagine what the youth of today will see in the future.

Originally posted here

Read More AI & Data

The post How AI can be an accessibility gamechanger for all appeared first on Digital Leaders.

AI promises to be a transformative force across many industries, offering immense potential for innovation and growth. However, successfully scaling AI deployments will only be possible if we overcome a major hurdle: Building trust in AI.

The post Building trust is the key to AI-at-scale appeared first on Digital Leaders.

The post How aql has been using AI to augment events appeared first on Digital Leaders.

One could be forgiven for feeling despair at the current state of the world. It was, unsurprisingly, a persistent theme at both events, with speakers painting a rather stark picture through the lenses of health & wellbeing, the economy and the environment.

It is clear that we have sufficient evidence to make us confident that embracing rapid change is the only sensible direction of travel – as highlighted in the keynote presentations that I’ve summarised below. It’s also evident – from my LinkedIn feed for starters – that there are lots of people and organisations with all sorts of innovative ideas and practices that offer us the chance to make positive radical change immediately.

So in the spirit of Williams, I want to use this article as an opportunity to make hope possible, and as a call for more meaningful innovation to support healthy places.

We know that we must act now and not let opportunities for positive impact slide from one month to another.

Unhealthy cities and climate catastrophe

Professor Sir Michael Marmot set the scene at Healthy Cities with a contextual analysis of the poor health of UK citizens today. He presented a wealth of evidence that showed significant declines in both public sector expenditure and in public health since 2010. Data showed that increases in life expectancy at birth have stalled in England, with health for the poorest people getting worse. Amid a decade of the government’s austerity programme, public sector expenditure shrank from 42% of GDP in 2009-10 to 35% by 2018-19 – which is enormous. Marmot described austerity as an “economic choice, not an economic necessity”.

Marmot’s work is concerned with the social determinants of health and he continued to paint a clear picture of the current situation in the UK. Real wages are lower today than 18 years ago and have fared much worse than our peer nations. Total government spending on healthcare per person, taking age into account, has been falling year-on-year since 2010 – we’re spending less than ever before. Austerity saw a decreasing amount of money being made available to local government; nearly one in five English Councils are at risk of bankruptcy according to the Financial Times. The tax burden in the UK (about 34% of GDP) makes us a low tax country in comparison to G7 and EU14, despite the political narrative claiming the contrary. Without London’s economic might, the national GDP of the UK drops by 14%, which means that we are as poor outside London as the poorest US state, Mississippi. We are, as Marmot pointed out, “a poor country with some rich people”.

Professor Dieter Helm, meanwhile, used his keynote at Said Business School to focus on climate change, during which he said “anyone who thinks we are cracking climate change must come from Mars”. Indeed, 80% of the world’s fuel is still fossil fuel and sustainable innovations are not without their own issues. Electric vehicle supply chains, for example, still cause significant environmental damage and negatively impact biodiversity. The scientific evidence behind this is overwhelming, as explained in this article on MIT’s Climate Portal and this Guardian series examining EV myths.

Helm also honed in on the poor state of Britain’s core infrastructure after 30 years of privatisation; energy networks, water utilities, natural ecosystems and a decent climate to name but a few. He argued that we need to look ahead to the next generation and ensure we can hand over working and viable infrastructure to them. If we can do that, which will involve creating more frameworks and increasing investment, then we have done all we can realistically do to enable resilience for future generations.

I think we can all agree with Dieter Helm (and so many other experts worldwide) when he says that there is an urgent need to sort out the mess. I said this would be an article of hope over despair, so now that we have some shared high-level foundational context – admittedly bleak – let’s move on in a spritely fashion to some of those opportunities for radical change!

Investing in our cities

Impact investing – investing with intentionality for people and the planet – is emerging as a major trend within the financial markets. Its global market value of over $1.1tr is firm proof that businesses are investing with more purpose. Kieron Boyle, chief executive of Impact Investing Institute, was speaking at Healthy Cities to explain why impact investing is becoming one of the world’s most credible tools for addressing cities’ key challenges – including achieving health equity.

Considering the significant influence businesses have on our health and wellbeing, and are themselves affected by the decisions of investors, there is a compelling case for businesses to prioritise health and wellbeing. If commercial activities contribute to prevalent public health issues such as smoking, harmful gambling and poor diet, then it follows that there are direct adverse impacts on the workplace, such as increased sickness and absence, reduced productivity etc.

It was encouraging to hear that investors are considering how to make healthcare more accessible and looking into the broader spectrum of social determinants of health – affordable housing, environmental health, food and nutrition, financial inclusion, community services, etc.

Place-based impact investing, Boyle explained, which focuses on the strengths and needs of a place, is also gaining attention and paving the way for a brighter future for urban areas. Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Pension Authority announced the development of a new Place Based Impact Investment Portfolio with plans to invest £500m in the region over the next five-10 years.

A key challenge for impact investing in urban health, however, is that it still lacks models for investment in urban health equity. Additionally, governments have been slow to take advantage of this capital so far and there are inherent risks in aligning public and private interests.

While organisations like GRESB and The Good Economy are already providing data and benchmarks for measurement, if impact investment continues on its current trajectory more will be needed to support responsible decision-making in the long-term.

What is bold?

This is a question that often causes contention. Indeed, it was no different on a panel at Healthy Cities while discussing the Liverpool Green Lanes Provocation Project, which was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Idea’ at the conference.

The challenge for many cities is to make existing, often outdated, urban neighbourhoods more liveable, resilient and healthy, which this project seeks to address. The overarching ambition is to catalyse large-scale greening, promote healthier living, active mobility, place activation and community engagement, among other interventions to deliver liveable city principles at scale. The outputs will ultimately be used to show how healthy city principles can be developed and applied in major urban regeneration projects, providing a benchmark for future initiatives.

So while some did think it was ‘bold’, referencing all of the regulations, frameworks and stakeholders that had to work together to make it happen, others disagreed. Graham Marshall, director of Prosocial Place, called it an “ordinary” idea. While it is a great and important idea, I feel inclined to agree… This sort of urban innovation should be viewed as standard practice in 2023, not a risky and forward-thinking idea.

Thought

Since the conference, I have been thinking a great deal about what ‘bold design’ means in terms of reshaping an existing part of a city – and particularly the role of digital technologies. We’ve established that radical change needs to happen quickly, for which technology is a fundamental enabler, but it must be done in a way that avoids negative disruption and harm to members of the public. Just think about the process of rapidly imposing e-scooters across our major towns and cities, and the results. Then notice that you don’t actually know ‘the results’ and ask why? In Paris, its citizens recently voted to ban rental e-scooters due to their negative impact on the environment. FYI, I’m not anti-e-scooters at all.

Much more thinking and discussion needs to happen to reach agreement on what constitutes a bold idea, bold design or a bold approach to place-based practice. But, we can address the question, “How can we be bold and innovative in a careful and responsible way?” For me, it all comes down to balancing the vision or the purpose with an ‘ethical by design’ approach and embedding that into projects from the get-go. Rather than seeing ethics as a limit to innovation, rather, we should all actively use ethics as part of a bold approach that considers the impact of our actions on people, place and the planet. We need to be bold by being aware of potential long-term as well as short-term effects of place-based innovation and acting accordingly – all of which swings back to impact investing, discussed earlier.

Scale: small investment or embedded long-term investment

As with the debate around what constitutes bold design, there was a lack of consensus regarding the most effective approach to projects: is it more effective to create a larger scale project or to start quickly with small interventions and scale them up?

A key point of discussion was around maintenance and funding. It was argued that small-scale projects are often seen as quick wins but often lack the means to continue. The message being that whatever you’re doing in the city needs to be embedded in the vision, strategy and objectives if it’s going to be delivered within the city and for the long-term investment required.

This links back to a point Dieter Helm made about maintenance and needing to sustain and improve existing infrastructures now, for the next generation. If there are no well functioning infrastructures in place, and no money for maintenance, then projects are much more likely to fall apart – whether it’s a community service or something physical such as water infrastructure or sewage systems. Ultimately, these things need to be running in tandem.

A delegate also highlighted the critical role of undertaking public impact assessments, as well as social, strategic and economic impact assessments – for both short- and long-term projects/programmes. Just as important, in my opinion, is community engagement and valuing community wisdom to influence where the money goes. These are the people you are ultimately investing in, and listening to them will help to unearth insight that is often missed when taking a top-down approach.

Thought

The winner of the President’s Award at the 2023 Landscape Institute Awards and ‘Excellence in Public Health and Wellbeing’ category is a great model of practice and demonstrates the power and value of community wisdom and collaboration.

Rooted in participatory and co-creation principles, the project from City of Bradford Municipal District Council was praised for challenging public health inequalities across the district, integrating blue and green infrastructures to highlight the role of the environment in health outcomes. I see it as a useful model that shows a bridging approach; one that starts with small investment and leads to embedded long term investment.

Carolin Göhler, President of the Landscape Institute called it a true exemplar of “how landscape can benefit people, place and nature with good community health research, policy making, design, and implementation, with close community liaisons and management of green spaces.” As one of the judges for this category, and who represented Bradford’s submission at the President’s Award deliberation, it was great to see first-hand some of the brilliant work taking place in Bradford. Let’s hope this one sets a precedent for other councils to follow!

Parks as core critical infrastructure

Parks are fundamental aspects of our towns and cities; they are places we walk, run, play and do sport; places that support biodiversity and promote air quality. They are intertwined with many social, economic, cultural and environmental factors that can have a positive impact on both people and place. Yet they are still so often overlooked, neglected, actively avoided or exclusive to certain groups – whether for safety concerns or through their design.

It was great to have a whole session dedicated to parks at the Healthy Cities conference, where I was invited to speak about Calvium’s work to support investment in parks for the City of Edinburgh Council.

The research project involved studying each of the city’s 149 parks to establish which could benefit from investment in sensitive lighting to support active travel. Geospatial and place-based data were analysed for each park in order to inform a ranked table of recommended parks. By lighting paths after dark, the aim is to enhance the perceived safety of parks and encourage their use as sites of connection. In doing so, it is expected more people will adopt active travel and the city will benefit from the associated health, economic and environmental benefits.

This is just one example of how a simple change can make parks more hospitable places for people to move through. Fortunately, there are many global projects underway that showcase how inclusive, collaborative design can promote greater health and wellbeing – from supporting gender diversity and mental health, to boosting safety and biodiversity. Read about them here.

Conclusion

From investing with purpose to ethical design and community wisdom and more, this article has shone a light on many innovative ways that we can create healthier and more resilient cities, today and in future.

Ultimately, the onus is on us – the placemakers, digital innovators, local authorities and citizens – to spot the opportunities where innovation could benefit the health and wellbeing of citizens and nature. It is up to us to identify both the small, quick wins and the longer-term investments to enable better physical and mental health, to improve safety and access to green spaces, to futureproof urban infrastructures…These are not radical ideas, they are simply reasonable and achievable – which is really great news!

Change is happening, and it is inspiring and reassuring to see. But time is of the essence and we need all hands on deck to ensure it happens sooner rather than later. As long as it is done with people, planet and place in mind, we have more than hope.

Read More AI for Good

The post Healthy cities, technology and innovation appeared first on Digital Leaders.

Much of this transformation is data-driven – the range and volume of data that exist about users, vehicles, transport options and services offer huge potential to improve mobility, create new business models, and improve the user experience. Given this, it’s no surprise that the sector sees the potential presented by advances in Data Science, AI and machine-learning, and continues to invest heavily in data-driven innovation.

Earlier this year, we attended the techUK Transport AI conference. That event reinforced how bold the sectors vision for AI is, the extent of investment in it, and the potential value that it can bring. Understandably, much of the focus was on exploring the use cases for AI, highlighting the benefits and risks, and on running pilot projects to prove safety and viability. 

A common theme that stood out is that, whilst there are lots of promising pilot projects, there isn’t currently a clear and consistent path for taking grassroots innovation in AI and scaling it up to the regional and national levels necessary to realise its full potential. 

The fact that there isn’t a defined path for scaling AI innovation in the sector isn’t surprising. Regulatory and governance frameworks for AI are still being shaped and, until there is more certainty about what these will mean in practice, there will be caution about scaling beyond a certain level. Public attitudes towards AI are also mixed and can change quickly and unpredictably in response to developments in other industries. Understanding attitudes to AI will be key to judging the best way to scale innovation in a way that creates trust and acceptance.

Working through uncertainties like this isn’t easy, but there are examples of delivering data-driven digital transformation at national scale that can provide a blueprint. One great example of this is our work with the DfT/Defra Joint Air Quality Unit, who we collaborated with to deliver the award-winning Drive in a Clean Air Zone service. There were three key ingredients that made this work a success: (1) we took a user-centred approach to delivery. This involved carrying out face-to-face research with users from all impacted sectors to understand their needs and attitudes and co-design the service, building trust, confidence and buy-in in the process; (2) we established a leadership and governance partnership with representation from central government, local government and the private sector. This helped to drive collaboration, as well as bringing together the diverse experience and perspectives necessary to make the transformation work for everyone; and, (3) we mapped out a ‘scale-up pathway’ that incrementally took the service from research and development prototype, to working proof-of-concept, to controlled pilot, to live national service. Safety, security and readiness criteria were defined and assessed at every stage to control progression through the pathway.

These same principles and frameworks can be applied to scaling AI-based innovation and prove that scaling can be done at pace, but in a safe and controlled way.

In summary, we think that the transport and mobility sector should start work now to develop a blueprint and pathway for scaling grassroots innovation in AI to regional and national level. The blueprint should be based on exemplars and lessons learned from delivering other digital transformation at scale in the sector and be developed in partnership between the public and private sector. By doing this, the future of transport stands the best chance of realising AI’s full potential at pace, whilst ensuring that it is safe, secure, and viable at the same time.

Read More Data & Decision Making

The post Scaling data-driven innovation in the transport sector appeared first on Digital Leaders.

But as an experienced senior content designer – I am currently working with Caution Your Blast Ltd (CYB) on the recently launched Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) service, the first use of LLMs by FCDO in public facing government – I’ve realised that in actual fact it’s the other way around: the success of AI is absolutely dependent on good UX. Specifically, good content design 

A primer, for those who need catching up: in essence, LLMs take loads and loads and loads of content, process it, and churn it out again. OpenAI haven’t been all that clear about which websites they’ve trained their models on, but the amount of content required to train LLMs is, well, vast.

When you’re creating a chatbot, the best way to ensure the LLM doesn’t drag up inaccurate content from elsewhere is to confine its source of information to one area. It’s still been trained to think and work and process data using other sources – but then you tell it to only look at a specific set of data when providing answers. This is called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).

I could use any large content estate to provide this case study, but I’m going to talk about the BBC website. I worked there as a content producer for over 10 years, and even with hundreds of trained staff working in content production I can assure you that a vast amount of content live on bbc.co.uk is out of date.

This isn’t me being rude – it’s a fact. Large organisations have been publishing content on the internet for at least 25 years now – the BBC website launched in 1997 – and when you’re publishing hundreds of pages a day for 25 years, who really has time to go back and delete/archive old content? We all do our best, but publishing tends to either be left to tiny central web teams or is decentralised. When setting budgets, auditing and removing obsolete content tends to be at the bottom of the pile.

Worse, despite inaccessible PDFs now being unethical and even, sometimes, illegal unless they’re accompanied by HTML versions, I have worked on a great many projects where there simply hasn’t been enough time or money to replace these documents with accessible HTML. In BBC Bitesize’s case, we started replacing downloadable PDF worksheets with HTML versions well over a decade ago, but this is sadly not the case for every website. We don’t know if AI is scanning content in downloadable documents, so any information contained within them may not be included when the AI is trained.

With so much out of date information going into AI, it is absolutely natural that what comes out is often unpredictable, inaccurate, or hallucinated (and I’ll save the consequences of hallucination and model collapse for another day).

So how do we fix this? Right now, the only answer I can see to creating accurate chatbots is for us to fix the information we feed them – and content designers are absolutely perfect for this job. It is us who tracks and audits information; it is us who writes clearly, accurately and concisely. We fact-check, we find the source of truth, and we work out what people really need when they’re looking for answers.

Will AI take our jobs? Maybe. It may well change them, but not so much in the case of content designers – because we’re already skilled at doing exactly what AI needs. If AI is to work properly, content designers and UX writers are absolutely key to its success. So while others may rightfully ask questions about the future of working in technology, I feel pretty safe for now.

Originally posted here

Read More AI & Data

The post Why AI won’t work without content design appeared first on Digital Leaders.

In short, “Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI: A Handbook for Digital Leaders” is specifically designed for busy professionals, Digital Leaders and decision makers wanting to know more about AI’s issues and impact. It is organized to allow the reader to gain valuable insights quickly and on demand. Above all, the content is grounded in real-world experience and practical applications within the context of digital transformation, ensuring its relevance to everyone who is embarking on a digital journey. Most importantly, each topic concludes with thought-provoking questions and actionable steps to guide your personal exploration of AI and its implications.

So, what’s it all about? Here’s a summary of the main elements of the book. I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback. Hope you enjoy it!

Surviving and thriving in the age of AI: A handbook for Digital Leaders 

Opinions on AI are everywhere these days. From news headlines warning us how robots will soon be taking our jobs to academic papers describing the latest image analysis advances, the promise and perils of AI are being described and debated. Yet, with the breadth and depth of AI disruption it’s all too easy to feel lost in the technical details, overwhelmed by the barrage of announcements, and confused by the implications for business and society. How can we make sense of it all? What are the key aspects of AI that will determine its impact on our lives? What does it mean for leaders and decision-makers looking to accelerate digital transformation strategies and redefine their organisations to be ready for the age of AI?

I have written this book to address these questions. “Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI” cuts through the hype and offers a practical roadmap for navigating the exciting (and sometimes confusing) world of AI. It takes the reader on a journey through the principles and practice of AI to provide a handbook for becoming a digital leader in the age of AI.

While it covers many elements, here I’ll unpack the three key themes that form the core of the book: Separating the AI reality from the hype; Assessing AI’s impact on digital transformation; and Delivering AI-at-Scale.

Separating AI reality from hype: How to stay head with AI

Let’s be honest, much of what we see today makes AI sound like a cross between magic and science fiction. The book encourages us to step back from the sensational headlines and presents the core elements you need to develop a critical eye.

• Critical Thinking is Key: Don’t be fooled by marketing speak. Leaders must learn to evaluate AI technologies for themselves to ask better questions and place AI developments into context. A framework for critical thinking is developed throughout the book. Stay informed about advancements, but be wary of overly optimistic predictions.
• Education is Power: All of us must invest in understanding the basics of AI. Digital leaders have a particular responsibility to educate themselves and their teams. This empowers them to see through the hype and identify how AI can specifically benefit their industry. The book highlights where to concentrate your educational efforts.
• Data is King: Don’t base decisions on empty promises. The book emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision making based on a resilient data engineering infrastructure. Leaders gain deeper insights from a mature approach to data and look for real-world case studies to test, evolve, and scale their AI solutions.

Assessing AI’s impact: A key weapon in your digital transformation arsenal

The evolution of AI brings new capabilities and opportunities to digital strategies already underway. The book positions AI as a powerful tool to extend your digital transformation journey. But only if AI is considered in the context of well-governed change management practices that focus on helping people to be more efficient and effective.

• Integration is Key: AI isn’t a standalone solution. It should seamlessly integrate with your existing digital infrastructure to maximize its impact. The book encourages you to think of it as an upgrade, not a complete overhaul.
• Boost Your Capabilities: AI can supercharge your data analysis, customer service, and operational efficiency. The book provides principles and real-world examples to show how companies are leveraging AI to achieve impressive results.
• Embrace the Experiment: Change can be difficult for organisation with established products, systems, and structures. Fostering a culture of innovation is crucial for success with AI. A key emphasis of the book is to encourage experimentation, learn from failures, and use those lessons to inform future efforts.

Delivering AI-at-Scale: Expanding AI across your organisation

Making the decision to bring in new AI tools and systems is just the start. Taking an AI project from pilot program to company-wide success story requires careful planning and substantial investment. The book provides the basis for you to create a roadmap to make this leap:

• Start Small, Win Big: Adopting AI can have major implications across the organization. Don’t try to boil the ocean. Begin with focused pilot programs in controlled environments. This allows you to test the waters, iron out kinks, and understand the potential impact before full-scale implementation. But the book helps you to recognize this is only a first step.
• Build a Strong Foundation: AI will place pressure on existing systems and skills. Ensure you have the technological and organizational infrastructure to support AI at scale. This includes robust data management systems, powerful computing resources, and a skilled workforce.
• Change Management Matters: People are key to successful AI adoption. The book uses case studies to show how leaders can communicate the vision clearly, address any concerns, and provide proper training to ensure everyone is on board.
• Continuous Improvement is the Focus: AI isn’t a “set it and forget it” solution. The book emphasises the importance of continuous monitoring and improvement. Establish feedback mechanisms to track AI performance, learn from outcomes, and refine your AI applications for maximum effectiveness.

Beyond surviving to thriving with AI

All organisations are now looking to AI to reinvigorate their digital strategy. It is by focusing on these three themes that “Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI” equips leaders and decision-makers with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the world of AI with confidence. By understanding the true potential of AI, leveraging it to extend your digital transformation efforts, and scaling AI solutions effectively, you can move from surviving to thriving in the age of AI. This is the handbook that Digital Leaders need to help you to make that happen.

If you would like to learn more about the book, get a signed copy and see me in conversation with Macmillan Cancer Support CIO, Roxanne Heaton you can join us on 23rd July at DLHQ 

The post How to survive and thrive in the age of AI appeared first on Digital Leaders.

Some studies even suggest that the opposite hypothesis could prevail (for example, the OECD Employment Outlook 2023) and envisage that AI will lead to mass creation of quality jobs. Now, you have never heard of this work, have you? Concerns also relate to the endangerment of democracy (which seems to me a much more tangible risk), deepfakes (similarly), the appearance of artificial general intelligence (AI) or even conscience machines and all the supposed risks that this entails, etc.

In reality, AI may well be the epitome of fear; a fear of acceleration quite simply, even stronger than that of climate change, of the globalization of decommissioning and I don’t know what else. But fear is not a good advisor, it prevents us from building collectively, it does not nourish democracy and it fuels populist movements whose very essence is fear. And then, AI is also worrying because it is an exogenous technology: an American technology, that of people who speak English, that of those who are comfortable with globalization, that of an elite who benefits from technology. This is to the detriment of the greatest number who suffer from it. It is difficult to predict the consequences of this technology in all these fields. On the other hand, it is certain that by allowing everyone to better understand what it covers, the risks of monopolization and misuse by particular interests will be much lower.

It is from this observation of the existence of a strong apprehension that the idea of ​​“the AI Café” was born within the National Digital Council (Cnnum). Initially, we organized around a hundred debates throughout France. Whether they are retirees, college students, experts in the field of IT, business leaders, craftsmen… the desire to debate and compare one’s perception of this to others what is artificial intelligence appeared very strong to us. For my part, the experience also extended to my summer vacation where, visiting rural departments, I was really impressed to see the extent to which collective myths existed with regard to this technology.

The idea of ​​AI Café is therefore to meet all those who wish to discuss AI. Potentially millions of French people of all ages and from all social origins… I am sometimes told that we must above all train everyone in AI, rather than debate. From experience (I have given quite a few courses and produced MOOCs on this subject), training is only effective if it is preceded by the dissemination of a general culture of the theme considered. However, with regard to AI, an IFOP survey highlights that 63% of French people do not wish to be trained in it. And in fact, who would actually want to be trained in a technology perceived as dangerous, harmful to employment and developed by libertarians behind platforms like Facebook or Amazon, whose consequences on fake news and low-paid jobs are the prerogative? We do not presume the outcome of this debate. 

If some of you (including me) have strong convictions in this regard, we really have to play the game, in good faith and that is what we want to do. There is, beyond the conviction that we must reclaim our future, the idea that it is necessary to “indigenize” this technology, to orient it on what our values, our choices are; “Re-encapacitate” is a bit of an ugly word, but one that Cnnum uses frequently, because it is very appropriate.

Read More AI & Data

The post Meet millions of French people in their nation’s AI Café appeared first on Digital Leaders.

Regulator intervention and consumers voting with their feet will radically change how companies respond to (or ignore) their customers’ inquiries. Many companies have made a cost-cutting business decision to block customers from reaching a live person for assistance, and others simply lack adequate customer services operations. Either way, customers in search of help are often frustrated by the avoidance tactics or lack of response. These unsatisfactory customer experiences come with tangible costs, such as: negative reviews, customer churn, and missed revenue opportunities. In addition, customer service agents are placed in the uncomfortable position of facing unnecessarily upset customers, while businesses face difficulties in retaining contact center employees.

It’s hard to be human

Stress and unreasonable demands place many agents in an untenable situation. They’re expected to juggle several chats at once and to close calls quickly. Most customers expect agents to know who they are and be aware of any previous issues or interactions. But often, agents can’t easily access that type of information, which adds to the stress of the job. After months of training, many still aren’t equipped to handle the cases they encounter without additional help. Even with more experience, agents are often powerless to solve the business process issues they face. It is no wonder that many leave soon after starting.

Is new technology the answer?

Because generative AI LLMs can feel like the magic bullet, they are capturing the imagination of businesses and individuals alike. Who wouldn’t want an all-knowing entity solving problems as they arise? However, interacting at length with ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, or any of the increasing number of model options now available begins to reveal their flaws. They have a predilection for hallucinating (producing false results), lack contextual understanding, access outdated information, and raise security concerns for many businesses. Despite the risks and pitfalls of these generative AI tools, they’re revolutionizing the customer service space and can, with the correct application, support improved interactions.

Bots alone can’t cut it

Even before generative AI was unleashed on the world, integrated, outcome-based bots had evolved to effectively handle high-volume requests, but were transferred to a human for anything that fell outside their intended purpose. The newest generation of generative AI understands requests better, which can make a significant difference in accomplishing a task correctly. However, because responses can’t always be trusted, companies should avoid allowing generative models to answer customers directly. While they can take a first pass at answers, responses should be validated by humans before being sent to the customer.

Generative models make it feasible for companies to gain full insight into what customers most frequently ask for, how they ask for it, and the corresponding agent responses. Automating the bulk of categorization and labelling work, along with learning the words and phrasing customers are using, enables training of company natural language processing (NLP) for better recognition. In addition, LLMs are great at figuring out alternate phrasings to further improve recognition rates and can modify response style depending on customer sentiment.

Better together

Rather than replacing agents or adding demands that force agents to constantly juggle more work faster, generative AI platforms can help lighten their workload. Agent-assist technologies provide suggestions for how to help customers and shorten agent training and response time, which increases their confidence and performance, and improves overall job satisfaction.

Agents have the deepest insight into where business processes are weakest and, when they leave, their insight leaves with them. Enabling agents to improve their workplace can help retain them and capture the value of their experience. In fact, becoming a bot trainer can be an attractive career progression path that allows agents to shape their workplace into one where they will thrive. Empowering agents to improve bots catalyzes a virtuous circle and demonstrates that there is plenty of work for them for the foreseeable future.

AI technology: a key part of innovative solutions

Contact center interactions can uncover symptoms of underlying business issues. Paying attention to these signals can help you react strategically and take steps to create solutions. The responsible use and thoughtful implementation of new technologies to support staff and provide the analysis needed to reinvent business processes, positions your organization for success, not just survival.

Published with permission from CGI and Cheryl Allebrand.  

Read More AI & Data

The post Is the future of contact centers bot or human? appeared first on Digital Leaders.

Many of us have been interacting with AI without even realising it. When we use a navigation app to find the quickest route to our destination, we benefit from advanced algorithms that process vast amounts of data in real-time. These applications leverage computational statistics to predict traffic patterns, estimate travel times, and provide accurate directions. This same underlying technology is now being harnessed to revolutionise the way local authorities operate and serve their communities and stakeholders.

IEG4’s Vision: Enhancing our digital experience platform with AI

At IEG4, we are at the forefront of integrating AI into our digital solutions for local government. Our commitment to innovation is driven by the potential of AI to transform public services, making them more efficient, responsive, and user-friendly.

We are exploring several AI-driven enhancements across our product offerings:

Generative Content in Web CMS: One of our key initiatives is incorporating AI to generate content within our headless web content management system (CMS). This capability will enable local authorities to maintain up-to-date and relevant content on their websites effortlessly. Using natural language processing (NLP), the AI can draft articles, announcements, and other web content, ensuring accuracy and relevance while saving time and resources.

AI Assistants in Customer Portals & Websites: We are also developing AI assistants for our customer portal and website solutions. These assistants allow customers to interact with council services using natural language queries. Instead of navigating complex menus, users can ask questions or describe their issues in plain language, and the AI assistant will guide them to the appropriate services or information. This enhancement promises to make council services more accessible and user-friendly.

Knowledge Systems within CRM: For the internal operations of local authorities we are integrating AI into our customer relationship management (CRM) system. This integration will create a robust knowledge system that staff can utilise to quickly find information, answer queries, and resolve issues. By leveraging AI, staff will be able to access a wealth of knowledge in real-time, improving their efficiency and effectiveness.

Image Recognition in Forms: AI’s capabilities in image recognition are also being leveraged in our solutions. When customers submit forms with attached images, the AI can automatically detect and categorise items within the images. This feature can streamline processes such as reporting and verifying information, reducing the need for manual intervention and speeding up service delivery.

Natural Language Reporting with Microsoft Copilot: Another exciting development is the integration of AI into our reporting databases. Using Microsoft Copilot, we enable natural language queries to generate reports and dashboards. This functionality allows users who may not be experienced with tools like Microsoft Power BI to create insightful reports and visualisations easily. By simply describing the data they need, users can generate complex reports, making data analysis more accessible across the organisation.

As we continue to explore the potential of AI, we remain focused on creating solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also user-centric. We aim to empower councils with the tools they need to meet their communities’ evolving needs, ensuring that public services are accessible, efficient, and effective for all.

Read More AI & Data

The post Embracing Artificial Intelligence in Local Government appeared first on Digital Leaders.