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Co-intelligences: the winning human-machine alliance that steers services

From technological evolution to new synergies between artificial and human intelligence, an exploration of how AI integration is recasting productivity, enhancing creativity and revolutionizing skills in businesses and everyday activities, paving the way for new opportunities.

Some people check the time on their phones, others glance at their wristwatches, and those who have perhaps absent-mindedly forgotten both at home must rely on the clocks found in pharmacies or the few remaining in large public squares of the most important towns and cities. However, in the 19th century, this was the only possible solution: the large clocks mounted on bell towers, towers, and sides of buildings were the only way to tell the time. They had to be accurate, and many were considered the perfect standard for synchronizing all other clocks. Clocks in different cities, however, did not always show the same time: each city adjusted its clocks based on the sun's position, and residents synchronized their timepieces accordingly.

This was a significant issue for businesses that needed to know the correct time to organize their services, particularly the railways. In the United Kingdom, a decision was made to have the official time determined by astronomers at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, located at the 'prime meridian' that we still use today. Consequently, the only way to ensure accurate time was to send someone there, which led to daily visits from bank employees, large companies and watchmakers who would adjust their clocks. This practice allowed others in the city to synchronize their timepieces accordingly.

In 1836, fed up with the comings and goings, observatory astronomer George Airy limited public access to just one day a week: Mondays. Airy's assistant at the time, John Belville, capitalized on his privileged position to set up a service that provided the exact time directly to London. Around 200 customers paid an annual subscription to check his clock weekly and adjust their clocks accordingly. He hired staff to ensure the process ran smoothly. According to BBC News, the clock was accurate within a tenth of a second, enabling everyone to manage their daily and work activities more efficiently and accurately.  
 

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+40%

Reduction of human errors through automation

Implementation of automated systems in sectors such as manufacturing and logistics significantly reduced human errors, resulting in improved accuracy and efficiency.

+65%

Greater efficiency in repetitive processes

Industrial robots and automated systems perform repetitive tasks with consistent precision, decreasing the need for human intervention and reducing error margins.
 

-15%

Decrease in downtime caused by errors

Adopting intelligent machines reduced downtimes caused by human error, ensuring operational continuity and enhancing productivity.

The transition from public clocks to modern devices like smartphones mirrors the increasing relations between humans and machines, going far beyond the simple time measurement. Currently, investments from the largest global economies are increasingly oriented towards technological innovation, highlighting the crucial role of automation and research as essential factors of progress. This synergy, now backed by artificial intelligence, is generating co-intelligences capable of addressing complex challenges thus fostering the development of new innovative solutions.
 

Countries with the highest numbers of patents in technological innovation (interactive map)

China

China is the global leader in patents, accounting for over 38% of the world's applications in 2021. The Chinese government significantly invested in innovation, particularly information technology, telecommunications, and electrical machinery. This rapid growth is fueled by emerging science and technology clusters, such as the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou area. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

United States

United States, holding 17.8% of global patents, is the second largest power. It is a leader in medical technology, engines, turbines, and basic communication processes. Silicon Valley remains a hub of innovation. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

Japan

Japan ranks third accounting for 16% of patent applications, and is a technology leader, especially in semiconductors, optics and precision machinery. The Tokyo-Yokohama cluster is the largest center for science and technology in the world. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

South Korea

With almost 10% of the world's patents, South Korea excels in mobile technology and digital communications. Companies such as Samsung and LG are leading technological evolution in the country, supported by a strong research and development ecosystem. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

Germany

Germany, focusing on engineering and advanced manufacturing, accounts for approximately 4.3% of patent applications. Clusters such as Munich and Stuttgart, together with industrial giants such as Siemens and Bosch, fuel technological innovation. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

United Kingdom

The UK, holding 1.2% of the world's patents, is renowned for its outstanding universities and industry-research collaboration. London serves as a key center of innovation, particularly in biotechnology and life sciences. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

France

France is another significant technology hub, particularly in aerospace research, transportation and energy production. Paris drives innovation with a strong public and private research ground. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

Netherlands

The Netherlands boasts one of the highest innovation rates per capita, thanks to a strong education system and close collaboration between the public and private sectors, focusing on areas such as advanced agriculture and sustainable engineering. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

Singapore

Singapore has significantly invested in technological innovation, particularly in smart cities, robotics and green energy. The country stands out for its supportive innovation policies and the presence of world-class technology hubs. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

Israel

Israel is renowned as the 'Startup Nation' due to its high concentration of patents in cyber security, artificial intelligence and agricultural technologies. Tel Aviv is the beating heart of innovative technology in the country. Source: WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization

Co-intelligences: the new human-machine alliance

In today's world, artificial intelligence has evolved from simply being a passive tool, to becoming a real working partner. This human-machine collaboration is transforming industries such as marketing, healthcare, finance and manufacturing. In his new book Co-intelligence: living and working with AI, Ethan Mollick discusses the alliance between humans and machines that could lead to surprising results in everyday life. This co-intelligence not only can boost productivity but also creativity and innovation. For instance, using AI for brainstorming can generate ideas that even the most creative human being, might overlook. In an interview with New York Times journalist Ezra Klein, Mollick shared how AI assisted him in writing his latest book by summarizing content, writing sections, and suggesting analogies. However, to truly benefit from AI, Mollick emphasizes the need for new and appropriate skills to interact with this evolving tool..
 

Public awareness of AI in daily activities

27% of Americans report interacting with AI several times a day, while another 28% interact with it almost daily or several times a week.

Highly-educated Adults, including those with higher incomes, are more aware of the role of AI in everyday life and use it to improve their performance and soft skills. It is no coincidence that those having a greater understanding of the digital world are more capable of effectively teaming with AI prompts.
 

A survey by the ONS, the UK's Office for Statistics, reveals that the use of AI is changing the lives and approach to things of more than two-thirds of those surveyed, although many adults are unaware they interact with AI daily through using virtual assistants and recommendation algorithms. AI raises both hopes and fears: while it could enhance access to healthcare and education, it also raises concerns about privacy and job losses, particularly in administration and sales. The forthcoming challenge will be to increase public awareness and trust by promoting ethical and transparent use of these technologies.  
 

The positive impact of AI in everyday life

More than two-thirds of those surveyed think artificial intelligence is having a positive impact on their lives.

The UK government's 2023 white paper "A pro-innovation approach to artificial intelligence (AI) Regulation" identifies the benefits and risks associated with AI. Potential benefits include improvements in public services, high-quality jobs, and advancements in science and technology. Adults under 40 and men in general expressed the most favorable opinions.

In general, those who can take full advantage of the features of AI are individuals who understand the medium, its functions, and its inherent biases. Unlocking this human-machine connection can increase skills and productivity in everyday life and the workplace. 

The impact of artificial intelligence on the Workplace

According to the report 'The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value' by McKinsey & Company, 65 per cent of organizations are using generative AI regularly, which is nearly double the figure of ten months ago.  The main benefiting areas include marketing, sales, product development, and IT, where gen AI helps improve operational efficiency and optimize business processes. Companies are reporting significant cost reductions through automation and resource optimization, as well as increased revenues in strategic functions such as supply chain management. However, the adoption of gen AI comes with challenges. One of the biggest hindrances is data management. Many companies struggle to establish effective governance processes and to quickly integrate data into AI models, hindering the full potential of the technology.
 

72%

Use of AI by companies

This year, more than two-thirds of those surveyed in almost all regions report their organizations are using AI. 

67%

Employees who believe in an increased use of AI

Investments in analytical AI are greater than in generative AI; however, most respondents agree that investments are growing each year.
 

+50%

Use of AI in two or more functions

Employees often succeed in improving specific aspects of their activities through AI, but recently, AI has been used in increasingly complex functions.

Artificial intelligence, as we understand it today, is just the latest result of technological evolution, which began in the 2000s. Douwe Kiela, a researcher at Facebook's AI research center, has carried out research on AI capabilities over time and its applications in the workplace to streamline production activities.

1998
Inception of the first forms of AI
Inception of the first forms of AI

The first breakthrough in Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) came with the introduction of the LeNet-5 architecture by Yann LeCun and his colleagues in 1998. LeNet-5 was specifically designed for recognizing handwritten digits and achieved remarkable performance on the MNIST dataset: a reference dataset widely used to evaluate image recognition algorithms. This architecture has frequently been employed by banks and financial institutions to automate the recognition of digits on cheques and bank forms.
 

2009
The early spread of the first chatbots and the industrial applications of AI
The early spread of the first chatbots and the industrial applications of AI

Around the early 1910s, chatbots began to spread thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and increased computational capacity. In the banking sector, chatbots were adopted to improve customer service, enabling customers to check balances, transfer funds and obtain account information quickly and efficiently. In customer service, overall, chatbots also offered 24/7 support, addressing common issues and answering frequently asked questions, thus reducing waiting times and improving the user experience.

2016
OCR tools become more common
OCR tools become more common

In 2016, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology experienced significant improvement and widespread deployment, becoming an essential tool for many industrial and consumer applications. OCR technology has led to greater efficiency and more accurate data management across multiple areas: it is adopted in banking for cheque reading, in post offices for processing addresses, and in libraries for digitizing historical books and documents.

2018
Release of the first vocal assistants
Release of the first vocal assistants

In 2018, the first vocal assistants were introduced to the public, marking a major evolution in human-computer interaction technology. Devices, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri by Apple, made it possible to access information and control smart-home devices through vocal commands. In the workplace, voice assistants have recast certain tasks improving efficiency and productivity, allowing individuals to manage calendars, set reminders and send messages quickly.

2021
Release of ChatGPT Generative AI
Release of ChatGPT Generative AI

In 2020, OpenAI, established in 2015, introduced GPT-3, a natural language model that attracted considerable interest and discussions. The release of ChatGPT, based on GPT-3, in November 2021, made advanced babbling technology accessible to the public. ChatGPT quickly gained popularity due to its ability to generate coherent and useful text in response to a wide range of questions, and its open-source release allowed everyone to implement its model in their projects. 

According to the 2023 OECD report "The Impact of AI on the Workplace", the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as we know it today automated many repetitive and dangerous tasks, thus freeing up workers for more complex and creative tasks. Employees are starting to recognize the tremendous potential of applying to other areas the skills they acquired in the workplace.
 

Relocating skills with AI

The McKinsey survey reveals a meaningful fact: consistently for all the considered sectors, many employees use AI both at work and at home.

There has been an increase in the use of artificial intelligence globally, compared to 2023, with the most considerable growth in Asia-Pacific and China. The rise in the business and energy sector was particularly notable. However, the increase in advanced industry, medicine and finance, where this shift has not yet fully emerged, is much less impactful.

This improvement was observed across various indicators, including job satisfaction, physical and mental health, and perceived fairness in process management. 
A virtuous example is Siemens. The German company created the Siemens Learning Platform, a digital space that offers customized courses aimed at enhancing advanced digital skills like data analysis and automation. Additionally, the company focused on improving human-machine collaboration by training the workforce to use AI as a tool to boost productivity rather than considering it as a threat to their jobs.

What scares employees the most is not only the replacement of their role by the machine but also the replacement within departments. Siemens has therefore implemented flexible career paths to enable employees to move into emerging areas within the company. This facilitated a smooth transition into new roles, reducing the risk of skills obsolescence. Each employee also had access to coaching and mentoring programs designed to address the specific challenges associated with technological change. Psychological support and change management were crucial to maintaining high motivation and productivity during the transition.

Integrating AI into business processes

What Siemens has done is the inextricable intertwining of management able to grasp the fears of employees and the trust of employees who introduced the changes as a natural process of the company. 

According to David De Cremer, a researcher at the University of Cambridge and author of the Harvard Business Review, the secret to structuring a 4.0 corporate culture is to involve all employees in the change process. Leaders should act as mediators and enablers, ensuring that employees receive the necessary training and see AI as an empowering tool, rather than a threat. Often, De Cremer persists, leaders make the mistake of pursuing automation goals without adequately involving staff, leading to resistance and distrust of the technology. Experienced managers, in contrast, recognize the importance of including employees in the transition to AI, demonstrating how it can enhance their work without replacing the human element. 
 

Workers most exposed to AI integration.

Many workers believe that AI will benefit them more than it will harm them.

People with a higher level of education and higher wages are the most exposed to artificial intelligence. This is because workers in these two categories often hold office jobs that can be automated and simplified. In 2022, workers in the most exposed jobs earned an average of USD 33 per hour, compared to USD 20 for jobs with the lowest level of exposure.

AI management and integration need to be reimagined. It is essential that technology and non-technology teams effectively collaborate, creating opportunities for social interactions and redefining learning hierarchies. We have observed that these approaches proved successful in various corporate environments, allowing companies to engage employees in a collective growth journey. An example of this is the Sella group, which embraced the concept of co-intelligence. This idea is further supported by the Open Innovation initiative recently launched in Turin. Located in the Crocetta district, this new center aims to serve as a hub where relationships, advisory, and innovation unite to foster the development of businesses and start-ups.