Is AI the New Black in Diversity

Is AI‘the new black’ in diversity?

Balancing a constantly evolving and increasingly diverse workforce whilst maintaining productivity levels, is one of the main challenges of corporations today.

Current HR topics in the boardroom range from mobile workforces, multiple generations with different values and ideas, as well as market share competition, productivity battles and technological advancement.

Consequently, organisations are required to rethink the status quo and embrace diversity not only in their customers and their employees, but also in their approach to work and current processes.

Modern managers and executives are required to communicate and operate successfully whilst effectively balancing gender, generational differences, culture, language, background and approach to work.

Now, they are facing a new challenge – the necessity to balance man and machine and the delicate act of taking responsibility for the future of their staff, whilst scaling the business and focusing on profitability.

There is no longer any doubt whether artificial intelligence (AI) will assist us in the future, however there is a lot of controversy around the impact.

Technological advancement and pace of change are accelerating at an unprecedented rate and will continue to do so exponentially.

The rise of AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way we work, communicate and function.

On one hand, automation and computerisation is frightening, some fear for their jobs and some even fear for humanity.

On the other hand, paired with professional and strategic guidance, these latest innovations have the potential to powerfully transform the way we operate successful businesses and society at large.

Scientists differentiate between 3 levels of AI: narrow, general and super AI.

Super or strong AI is when machines develop their own consciousness, sentience and mind, which is the most controversial type of AI and often referred to as the point of Singularity, where machine intelligence will be infinitely more powerful than all human intelligence combined.

Narrow intelligence covers most AI applications that we can see in society today, such as voice enabled assistants like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant or the parking assistant in our cars.

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the primary goal of current research, focusing on the intelligence of a machine that could successfully perform any intellectual task of a human being. AGI applications are being introduced to more and more companies now such as law and accounting firms and investment banks.

The next question for the boardroom will therefore not be ‘how many females are in leadership positions?’ or ‘have we created comprehensive teams through a broad mix of nationalities and cultures?’ or even ‘what impact does our largest age cohort have on succession planning in our corporation?’.

At Viveka, we are closely guided by our core values – Integrity, Diversity and Innovation.

Our vision is to upgrade humanity in the same way that we continuously upgrade technology, so that we can embrace change equipped with a confident mindset.

We believe that:

1. Professional development is one of the most important services in our current times of extreme change. It brings fresh perspectives on personal challenges, enhanced decision-making skills, greater interpersonal effectiveness and increased confidence.

2. Diversity is successfully defined by the right balance of culture, age, gender and technology, enabling modern companies to succeed in every aspect of the business.

3. AI and IoT is the greatest opportunity to humans since the invention of the steam engine, relieving us from mundane, time-consuming tasks and simplifying processes IF embraced with the right and equally evolved mindset.

Leadership and HR teams will increasingly be asking one question ‘how many human beings do we want to include in this team and what skills should these have?’.

We tend to forget that diversity is a dynamic phenomenon, not a static measure that can be described at a certain point in time.

The core focus of diversity has shifted multiple times and evolved over the past decades from race to gender, from gender to generational differences and to equality of sexual orientation.

In fact, the mere use of the word ‘diversity’ in the English vocabulary tripled over the past 50 years.

The new buzzword in the evolution of diversity will therefore be AI and IoT with an increased focus on ethical beliefs and consequences of balancing man with machine.

This progress comes with great responsibility, not only for corporations and governments but also for advisers to leadership teams such as coaches and consultants.

Any complex system that involves the combination of human decision making and an automated system requires answers to where, when, and how much humans and automation should be in the decision-making loop.

Allocating roles and functions between man and machine is critical in defining efficient and effective system architectures and we need to start integrating these strategic thoughts when providing advice to key influencers.

The predominant engineering viewpoint is to automate as much as possible and minimise the amount of human interaction.

VIVEKA

Viveka is the new online marketplace for the professional development industry, connecting industry leading coaches, mentors and speakers from all over the world to companies, leaders and individuals.

Our offerings cover a wide range of expertise, our professionals are represented by over 21 countries across the globe and experience levels range from new practitioners to internationally recognised authorities in their field.

With over 350 international coaches listed within the first 6 months post launch, Viveka is positioned to disrupt, revolutionise and grow the professional development industry by providing a transparent, easy to use and professional platform to a disjointed and unregulated market.

The exponential growth of our company within such a short timeframe points to a very interesting fact, namely the need for unity within diversity, collectiveness amongst individualism and transparency in a highly fragmented industry.

Many engineers see humans as a mere disturbance that can be designed out until they begrudgingly recognise that humans must play a role in such systems, either for regulatory requirements or low probability event intervention.

The question remaining is ‘what is the right balance?’.

Below are some of the experts featured on Viveka and their views on diversity within their companies.

Andrea MacKenzie Founder of Lead With Harmony

Lead With Harmony’s mission is to help companies create high-performance, low stress workplaces.

We help companies looking to leverage diversity for greater productivity and innovation, understand how people’s different strengths interplay and how to mitigate the risks of conflict within a highly diverse team.

www.leadwithharmony.com

Aimee ReeseARLC Ventures, LLC

Your Power to Choose is what helps you live a happier, healthier more fulfilled life.

I have the privilege to work with people all over the world looking to Reboot-Revitalise-Restore themselves so they can truly radiate. We all are unique and I work with you to bring your true self out this is what helps you put yourself first in your life, health and wellness.

www.aimeereese.com

Mariona RieraMindfulness Consultant

Diversity is what makes this life worth living. It’s about variety, richness & contrast.

I have the tremendous privilege to work with an array of people from around the world with very diverse backgrounds and influences, but the beauty of it all is that, deep inside, we’re not that different, we all want to experience joy, purpose and flow.

www.marionariera.co

View all our coaches, mentors and speakers and create your profile for free on www.viveka.world

Katja Kempe

Katja is the CEO and Founder of Viveka.

Viveka is a combination of Katja’s professional experience and personal passion. As a Strategy Manager and then COO of internationally leading law firms, Katja was required to follow strategic, innovative and global industry trends whilst implementing new strategies to continuously up level efficiencies and processes.

Katja always had a passion for personal growth and professional development. She was a coach and mentor for several years, parallel to her career in the legal industry.

Katja is internationally experienced, multilingual, inspired by innovation and a strong believer in creating positive and sustainable change.

www.viveka.world