A pivotal study, conducted by experts from Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, the Boston Consulting Group, and the Wharton School, highlighted some great insights about using AI at work.
The study focused on 18 complex, knowledge-intensive tasks, and involved 758 consultants from the Boston Consulting Group. These professionals were grouped into three categories: the first group were given no AI access, the second group were given access to GPT-4 (the AI model that ChatGPT is based on), and a third group were given access to GPT-4 with additional prompt engineering training.
The findings were extraordinary.
Consultants utilizing AI significantly outshone their peers. They completed over 12% more tasks about 25% faster and their work quality was 40% higher compared to those without AI. For any business leader, these numbers are quite exciting, suggesting AI’s immense potential to boost productivity and elevate work quality.
However, there is an important caveat mentioned in the paper: the jagged technological frontier.
This concept is important in understanding AI’s applications. Here’s a quick explanation: Picture a circle where the distance from the center represents task difficulty. Tasks inside the circle are more manageable than those outside. The boundary of this circle, the jagged frontier, separates tasks that are within or beyond AI’s current capabilities.
The Three Traits of the Frontier
1. Jaggedness: The frontier is not a smooth curve but a jagged line. This implies that AI’s effectiveness varies unpredictably across different tasks. A task that seems simple (closer to the center) might fall outside AI’s scope (because it’s outside the frontier), while a more complex one (farther away from the center) might be well within its capabilities (because it’s inside the frontier)
2. Invisibility: The frontier is not easily discernible. This invisibility poses a challenge in determining which tasks are achievable with current AI technology.
3. Growth: The frontier is constantly expanding as AI evolves. Tasks that are beyond AI’s reach today might soon fall within its capabilities.
The Takeaway for Business Leaders
The positive results of the study were for tasks within the frontier. For tasks outside the frontier, AI was less effective, with consultants 19% less likely to produce accurate solutions compared to non-AI users. This highlights the importance of recognizing both the potential and the limitations of AI.
Understanding the jagged, invisible, and expanding nature of the technological frontier is key to effectively leveraging AI in business.
AI presents immense opportunities for business innovation and efficiency. However, approaching its integration with a balanced understanding of its capabilities and limits is essential.
If you’d like to learn more, check out my “Generative AI for Business Leaders” course on Udemy or my “Generative AI for Busy Business Leaders” book on Amazon.
