Can Managers Trust AI To Do Work Unsupervised?

Managers won’t be able to delegate to generative AI until they can rely on what it produces.

We need proof that it works.

I’m not seeing that yet.

I’m not anti-technology – as an engineer I’m trying these new tools out and running several experiments.

But as an engineer, I also want solutions that work, that are reliable, and that can be left alone to do what they’re supposed to do.

Software that comes with a warning that its outputs may be wrong and need checking are not particularly helpful.

The only time you’ll use that output is when the output doesn’t matter – such proposal filler or a quick email response.

Or if there is a human in the loop with ultimate responsiblility for agreeing with the output – such as checking the results of a medical image diagnosis.

But the messy middle may stay messy.

When something is important and needs to be done right – what are you going to do?

You don’t really want to commit a career limiting or career ending blunder.

Perhaps the approach many managers will take is to outsource tasks to consultancies that use specialists that leverage AI rather than bringing AI in house as a replacement for recruitment or capability building.

After all, it’s always easier to fire a consultant if things go wrong.