Employees are already using Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT to speed up their work, which offers great benefits but also introduces risk and inconsistency. The next logical step for organizations is to integrate GenAI directly into their software ecosystems, which is incredibly exciting for some, but debilitatingly horrifying for others. The outcome doesn’t have to be so extreme - we can help simplify the process of matching the right GenAI product to an appropriate use case to bring significant value without introducing data privacy concerns or other dangers.
What is the real deal about GenAI?
Generative AI (GenAI) is a type of artificial intelligence that “learns” from existing data, such as images or text, to create similar but new content. By training on a massive amount of information, GenAI models are able to produce eerily human-like responses.
Some GenAI products like ChatGPT collect your information as you use the tool, and train on your data. This is an immediate show-stopper for most organizations that are considering using GenAI within their business workflows, as it should be. Not only could there be regulatory concerns with your information being used like that, but this also allows your competitors to directly benefit from your knowledge.
Fortunately new products address data privacy and security concerns with SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and the promise that you own and control your data. This means that your data is not used to train their models, and you can use the products with sensitive information like PHI.
So, what is the real deal about GenAI? If used properly, your data is safe. Even the U.S. government is starting to explore Azure OpenAI after the service received FedRAMP High authorization, which requires compliance with highly stringent security standards.
It is safe - but is it capable?
Capability concerns of GenAI usually stem from horror stories of it “hallucinating”, i.e. presenting false statements as if they were facts. If you want to automate writing content that must be factual, like court filings, then is GenAI really worth the risk?
The answer is simple. Even with vendors working to address hallucinations, ultimately GenAI is a new tool in the toolbox. It's a bit shinier than the others, but it isn’t meant to solve every problem, just like you wouldn’t use a power drill to hammer a nail. It’s great as an advanced chatbot, content collaborator, and even at taking unstructured text and transforming it into concrete, actionable and reportable data. But you probably don’t want to use it when making ethical judgments, or to produce court documents without any review.
GenAI has tremendous potential to improve customer experience, maximize the efficiency of your workforce, and more when implemented correctly.
Great! How should I use it?
Implementing GenAI effectively requires creativity and a thorough understanding of prompt engineering techniques. Without proper prompt engineering, GenAI will not produce the results you're looking for. The technology is deceptively accessible, but despite its low barrier of entry it still takes expertise to reach its potential.
Workflow automation is a strong complement to push GenAI even further and bring in the expertise of your employees when needed. GenAI can instantaneously craft well-written materials, but in environments where the stakes are high it’s best used as an accelerator for humans to then review and validate. This is an additional way to mitigate concerns around GenAI results not being 100% accurate.
At Macedon Technologies, we're exploring how to use GenAI in our business processes and in fun side projects, like our meeting assistant who creates icebreaker questions. We’ve learned where to best combine the technology with software platforms, and we’ve become aware of its limitations. We're excited about the potential it has to improve the solutions that we deliver to our customers, but can also help decide if it’s not a good fit.
But can I use it for...?
Contact us to submit your AI idea and we’ll provide an initial assessment on its viability as part of a business automation solution.
