The AI-Powered Workplace : How Artificial Intelligence, Data, and Messaging Platforms Are Defining the Future of Work

We are entering the next wave of digital transformation. Artificial intelligence has an ever-increasing significance in our daily lives, and there is no difference when it comes to our workplaces. It is up to you to choose how to utilize these new tools to sharpen your organization's competitive advantage, improve your team's well-being, and help your business thrive. In The AI-Powered Workplace , author Ronald Ashri provides a map of the digital landscape to guide you on this timely journey. You'll understand how the combination of AI, data, and conversational collaboration platforms—such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Facebook Workplace—is leading us to a radical shift in how we communicate and solve problems in the modern workplace. Our ability to automate decision-making processes through the application of AI techniques and through modern collaboration tools is a game-changer. Ashri skillfully presents his industry expertise and captivating insights so you have a thorough understanding of how to best combine these technologies with execution strategies that are optimized to your specific needs. The AI-Powered Workplace is an essential technical, cultural, and business handbook that arms you with clear steps to redefine and improve how you get work done. Software is now a proactive workplace partner revolutionizing all aspects of our professional lives from how we collaborate in the digital sphere to the literal physical environments in which we operate our business. This book not only ensures that you do not get left behind, but that you are consistently light years ahead of the pack. What You'll Learn Learn how the introduction of AI-powered applications in the workplace replaces or augments our capabilities and enables activities that were not possible before Realize how the combination of AI, data, and messaging platforms (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Skype, WhatsApp) leads to a radical shift in how we communicate, collaborate, and solve problems Develop strategies for the digital transformation of organizations through the use of AI-powered applications (from simple chatbots to more complex conversational applications) that operate within messaging environments we use to collaborate with our colleagues daily Know the dangers and ethical questions that the introduction of these technologies can cause in the workplace Who This Book is For Professionals at all levels interested in learning how AI, conversational platforms, and data can change organizations, including but not limited to team leaders, managers, and CxOs Contents 5 About the Author 6 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 8 Part I: Understanding AI 12 Chapter 1: The Search for Thinking Machines 13 The Birth of a New Field of Study 15 A Practical Application 16 AI Goes into Hiding 18 The New Eternal Spring 19 Flooded in Data 20 Raw Processing Power and Better Algorithms 21 The Democratization of AI 22 Moving Forward 23 Chapter 2: What Is AI? 24 AI’s Disappearing Act 25 General AI vs. Domain-Specific AI 26 An Agent-Based View of AI 28 Agents 29 Active Agents 31 Self-Directed Agents 33 Autonomous Agents 34 Agents That Learn 37 Agent Communities 37 Moving Beyond Intelligence 38 Chapter 3: Building AI-Powered Applications 39 What AI Needs 40 Model-Driven and Data-Driven AI 41 Model-Driven AI 42 Data-Driven AI 43 Standing on the Shoulders of Data 44 Give Me Enough Data and the Right Algorithm and I Will Move the World 44 Techniques, Capabilities, and Applications 45 Experts and Machines Working Together 48 Chapter 4: Core AI Techniques 49 Model-Driven Techniques 50 Knowledge Representation 50 Logic 53 Planning 55 Data-Driven Techniques 56 Supervised Learning 57 Gathering and Preparing Data 58 Choosing a Machine Learning Algorithm, Training, and Fine-Tuning 59 Predicting 59 Unsupervised Learning 60 Reinforcement Learning 60 Deep Learning and Artificial Neural Networks 62 From Techniques to Capabilities 64 Chapter 5: Core AI Capabilities 66 Language 67 Speech Recognition 68 Natural Language Processing 70 Analysis and Entity Extraction 70 Classification 72 Intent Extraction 72 Translation 73 Natural Language Generation 74 Vision 75 Custom Capabilities 77 From Capabilities to Applications 78 Part II: The Applications of AI in the Workplace 79 Chapter 6: The Digital Workplace 80 What Is the Digital Workplace? 81 Understanding Your Digital Workspace 82 People and Teams 83 Exploring People Data 84 Processes 85 Mapping Processes 85 Tools 86 Demystifying Tooling 86 The Next Destination 87 Chapter 7: AI Is the New UI 88 Moving beyond “point and click” 88 Conversational Interfaces 90 Voice 91 Text 93 Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality 93 Better User Experiences Are a Competitive Advantage 97 Chapter 8: Conversational Collaboration Platforms 98 Conversational Collaboration Platforms 99 Core Features 101 People 102 Presence 103 Conversations 103 Document Exchange 106 Search 107 Integrations 107 Custom Conversational Platforms 108 Your Organizational OS 110 Chapter 9: Conversational Applications 111 From Chatbots to Conversational Applications 113 Structure of Conversational Applications 114 Planning for Conversational Applications 119 Capabilities 119 Interaction Style 120 Context 121 Platforms 122 Analytics and Improvement 122 Where to Use Conversational Applications 123 Intelligent Notifications 123 Basic Notifications 124 Active Notifications 125 Team Notifications 125 Monitoring Key Data 126 Connected Data 126 Contextual Data 127 Explainable Data 127 Support and Collaboration 128 Automated Helpdesk 129 Capturing Decisions and Completing Tasks 129 Capturing and Sharing Process Knowledge 129 Organizational Collaboration Operations 130 Part III: Building Your AI-Powered Workplace 132 Chapter 10: From Data to Understanding 133 Giving Data Purpose 134 Developing a Data Strategy—from Theory to Practice 136 The Challenge 137 A Data Strategy in Support of Communication and Collaboration 138 A Data Strategy That Enables Connection and Aggregation 139 A Data Strategy to Unify Information through Standards 140 A Data strategy to Iteratively Improve Tooling 141 From Data to Understanding 142 Chapter 11: Defining an AI Strategy 144 A Practical Approach to AI Strategy 146 Principles 147 Think Big, Start Realistically, Scale Appropriately 147 Think Big 147 Start (and Evolve) Realistically 149 Scale Appropriately 150 Tangible Outcomes Matter 150 An AI strategy Is Not About AI 151 There Is No “True” AI Test to Pass 152 Decide If You Really Want It 152 Methods 153 Find Your Place 153 How Do We Currently Solve a Problem? 154 Uncover the Real Process 154 Simulate Processes with Humans 154 Don’t Ignore Experience 155 What Data Do We Have? 155 One-Star—Data Available for Use in Whatever Format 155 Two-Star—Data Available in a Structured Format 155 Three-Star—Data Available in a Well-Understood Structured Format 156 Four-Star—Data Available via Documented API 156 Five-Star—Data Linked Across Sets to Provide Context 156 Connect Activities 156 Build Your Roadmap 157 Hire Tools with AI Built In 158 Build with AI 159 Build AI 160 AI Everywhere 160 Chapter 12: The Ethics of AI-Powered Applications 161 The Consequences of Automated Decision-making 162 Guidelines for Ethical AI systems 164 Trustworthy AI 165 Lawful AI 165 Ethical AI 166 Robust AI 168 Ethical AI Applications 170 Chapter 13: Epilogue 172 Index 175 "We are entering the next wave of digital transformation. Artificial intelligence has an ever-increasing significance in our daily lives, and there is no difference when it comes to our workplaces. It is up to you to choose how to utilize these new tools to sharpen your organization's competitive advantage, improve your team's well-being, and help your business thrive. In "The AI-powered workplace", author Ronald Ashri provides a map of the digital landscape to guide you on this timely journey. You'll understand how the combination of AI, data, and conversational collaboration platforms, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Facebook Workplace, is leading us to a radical shift in how we communicate and solve problems in the modern workplace. Out ability to automate decision-making processes through the application of AI techniques and through modern collaboration tools is a game-changer. Ashri skillfully presents his industry expertise and captivating insights so you have a thorough understanding of how to best combine these technologies with execution strategies that are optimized to your specific needs. "The AI-powered workplace" is an essential technical, cultural, and business handbook that arms you with clear steps to redefine and improve how you get work done. Software is now a proactive workplace partner revolutionizing all aspects of our professional lives from how we collaborate in the digital sphere to the literal physical environments in which we operate our business. This book not only ensures that you do not get left behind, but that you are consistently light years ahead of the pack."-- Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 The Search for Thinking Machines (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 3-13 What Is AI? (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 15-29 Building AI-Powered Applications (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 31-40 Core AI Techniques (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 41-57 Core AI Capabilities (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 59-71 Front Matter ....Pages 73-73 The Digital Workplace (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 75-82 AI Is the New UI (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 83-92 Conversational Collaboration Platforms (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 93-105 Conversational Applications (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 107-127 Front Matter ....Pages 129-129 From Data to Understanding (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 131-141 Defining an AI Strategy (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 143-159 The Ethics of AI-Powered Applications (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 161-171 Epilogue (Ronald Ashri)....Pages 173-175 Back Matter ....Pages 177-180