Impact of Generative AI on Office Work – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #927

Impact of Generative AI on Office Work – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #927

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #927 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here.

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The onslaught of Generative Artificial Intelligence – Gen AI is so powerful that virtually all areas of life are being/going to be impacted. We need to talk about it, discuss it at every forum, and take steps to incorporate Gen AI into our business operations and a wide range of other areas.

It is such a sad commentary that with every major development in the world, Pakistan slides back even further. Our organizations get back further into their conventional ways of working and close the doors so that the development will not reach them. There is a famous saying that nothing succeeds like an idea whose time has come. We have seen it happening in our lifetime, from mobile phone to Facebook to WhatsApp to TikTok and what not, but we still believe we can stop new ideas from taking roots. What our resistance achieves is that a distorted version is adopted which is harmful rather than being beneficial. If we go ahead, embrace new tools and technologies, and control in a positive fashion, it will do a world of good for people and country. Recent extended ban of X (formerly Twitter) reflects poorly on the psyche and thinking of powers to be. 

Large Language Models – LLMs – more popularly known as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot are making huge waves in the world. These are Generative AI tools which are taking their place in all spheres of life. Developed countries, where these tools have been developed are in the forefront of this activity, and they are constantly finding new ways and avenues to attain competitive advantage with the help of AI, thereby increasing the gap between developed and developing countries further.

On one hand, Gen AI is putting greater control and possibilities in automating several areas of office work, on the other hand, it is threatening to wipe out thousands of jobs. Google has already laid off over 12,000 employees, and the trend continues across various industries.

Following are few ways in which office work shall be impacted by Gen AI. I shall also comment as where we are in Pakistan.

Content Creation

Report Generation – Generative AI can analyze data and churn out comprehensive reports with charts, graphs, and summaries, freeing up human analysts for deeper insights. 

Too many people in every department are presently doing a poor job of report making, because analytical capabilities vary greatly. Analytical report writing is not taken as a separate qualification; it is considered that anyone may be able to do it.

Marketing Materials – AI can create targeted marketing copy, generate social media posts, and even design personalized ad campaigns based on audience demographics.

Marketing departments are filled with product managers whose core job is to conceive campaigns, design promotional materials in collaboration with graphic designers and printers, take approvals, get these printed, and then distributed to distributors and promotional teams.                                                                                                                                               

Presentations – You can say goodbye to tedious slide creation. Generative AI can take your talking points and automatically generate visually appealing presentations with relevant data and multimedia elements. Presentation making presently takes uncountable number of hours in any organization.

Communication and Collaboration

Real-time Translation – Language barriers become a thing of the past with generative AI that can translate conversations and documents in real-time, bringing seamless collaboration across borders. This is particularly useful for global businesses who operate in many countries. Many Pakistani companies also work in multiple countries and translating documents has always been a hassle. English proficiency is a tangible issue in some countries and only local language is the best medium for communication. Gen AI shall help.

Meeting Transcripts and Action Items – Generative AI can transcribe meetings, identify key decisions, and automatically assign action items, ensuring everyone is on the same page. This is also a very interesting feature. Presently, someone is assigned to take notes, prepare meeting minutes, and circulate. Different people do it differently and it causes issues.

Personalized Communication – Generative AI can draft personalized emails based on recipient information, tone, and desired outcome, saving countless hours. This is particularly useful in situations where bulk emails are sent as promotion, and then selected emails are replied with individual response. While it is easy to send bulk email, individual replies take a lot of time. Another variation is emails received through contact forms on the website. Depending upon the traffic, this can be a real time saver.

Workflows and Efficiency

• Smart Scheduling: Generative AI can analyze calendars, identify scheduling conflicts, and suggest optimal meeting times for all participants, streamlining the scheduling process. 

• Automated Workflows: Repetitive tasks like data entry, expense report processing, and invoice generation can be completely automated using generative AI, freeing up employees for more strategic work.

• Predictive Analytics: Generative AI can analyze company data to predict sales trends, identify potential risks, and recommend data-driven strategies, allowing businesses to make informed decisions.

Gen AI in Regular Offices in Pakistan

When I visualize the working in Pakistan offices, I see basic issues. Except those businesses which have modernized themselves over time, all local businesses are a sham in terms of management. 

Jobs are poorly designed and even those designs are not adhered to. Responsibilities overlap in routine and multiple people are doing the same task repetitively. Redundancy is rampant and no one is bothered with it.

There is a general impression that it is better to hire cheap labor, even if it is unskilled. Most offices are overstaffed for this reason and abundance of people leads to internal strife and politics.

Job stress is due to workload, it is due to low salaries, unnecessarily long working hours, and lack of respect. 

Most managers are narrow-minded, biased, self-centered, and dishonest. They present different pictures to higher management and employees. And their primary motive is to gain maximum benefits for their own self.

Sum Up

It is important to remember that generative AI is a tool, not a replacement for human intelligence. The ideal scenario is a collaborative environment where AI handles the mundane tasks, allowing humans to focus on creativity, critical thinking, and strategic problem-solving.

As generative AI continues to evolve, we can expect even more transformative applications across various aspects of life, fundamentally changing how we work, learn, and interact with the world around us.

For businesses in Pakistan, Gen AI can provide opportunity for upgrading their entire systems. We keep fingers crossed and see how it goes.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intention to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, however, it happens unintentionally, I offer my sincere regrets.