Exploring the risks of uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence
Heart Leadership University has launched an explanatory research on one of the three great challenges of the 21st century: the risks of uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence. While the subject has been in the news regularly since the release of ChatGPT, the aim here is to address questions that have so far received little attention. Who are the main beneficiaries and losers of the massive deployment of artificial intelligence? To what ends is this development being deployed? Does the massification of automated decisions via algorithms restrict the freedom of choice and/or the ability of humans, and in particular leaders, to make decisions by mobilizing their sensitive aptitudes, their heart intelligence (intuition, empathy, courage)?
Project's objectives
At a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly tested and deployed across all sectors, HLU intends to contribute to the debate on the benefits and risks of this development. And this on three levels:
- On an individual scale, and particularly regarding the executive and leader, to what extent and in what way can AIS deprive humans of the possibility to make decisions with sensitivity (i.e., as a minimum, with intuition and empathy)? Will algorithms deprive us of the capacity to make decisions in a “human” way? Will statistics and calculation always win out in the final reckoning?
- On the scale of the economic players, who are the dominant players? What is the degree of concentration of power and what are the possible counter-powers? What are the impacts of the development of an economy based on data in terms of capturing value, the balance of power between economic players, and the notion of sovereignty?
- On the scale of the planet, living things, and humanity, can we assume that the technologies and systems deployed will have a “sustainable” or beneficial orientation for the common good? Or are we, on the contrary, in the process of accelerating the exploitation, privatization and plundering of resources and the growth of inequalities?
In particular, we aim to help business leaders make the right decisions. Today, information and training aimed at this audience is often designed to get them to adopt AI without necessarily questioning its relevance or appropriateness to their structure’s issues.
First phase of the project: exploring the current situation
Conducted with Amal Marc and Laure Lucchesi, this phase provided an overview of the issues at stake at global level and for individual leaders. The work was fueled by bibliographic research, expert interviews and focus groups organized in partnership with the CJD (Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants), to gather testimonials on how executives are questioning and positioning themselves in the face of AI deployment. Here are some of the findings of this exploration.
Dependency, at the heart of global issues.
- AI is not artificial, but extremely material – which poses a major challenge in terms of resource dependency (energy, water, metals), and the need for executives to assume greater responsibility in the perspective of sustainability.
- AI’s Global competition is largely dominated by the US/China duopoly, and the value chain by digital Big Tech. In such a context, European companies are currently confined to the role of developer of specific use case and, more generally, to that of user of technologies produced elsewhere. This once again raises the question of dependence (this time, economic dependence) and of who is in control.
At company level, our study has enabled us to distinguish areas of relevance for AI, as well as use cases that may be questioned:
- either because the artificial intelligence systems would be called upon to operate in contexts that are too volatile and uncertain for them to be of lasting utility, calling into question their true return on investment;
- or because they bring with them high risks of a loss of perspective, intuition or resilience for the individual and for the organization;
- or because they involve unethical or superfluous usages (passing fads, marketing hype), leading to a waste of resources.
The leaders interviewed oscillate between fascination for “magical AI” (which is lightning fast and practical, and now “generative”) and repulsion as a reaction to what may be deemed “tragic AI”. More generally, while some identify the adverse consequences of AI deployment for their company and their leadership practice (loss of power, skills, impoverished relationships, cyber-risks, etc.), the link to global issues and the question of the leader’s responsibility at the boundaries of his or her company are much less a part of their reflections…
See the other productions of our AI's exploration
Second phase of the project: exploring the futur of leadership with AI
HLU, in partnership with Futuribles, a think-tank on the future, and the CJD, has embarked on a prospective study to enable French business leaders to project themselves into different AI deployment scenarios up to 2035.
One of the key challenges of this work will be to see the impact of these developments on executives’ ability to act and decide, by appealing to their sensitive aptitudes (empathy, intuition, courage), a subject at the heart of HLU’s mission.
The project will be carried out in several stages:
- creation of a panorama of possible developments in artificial intelligence up to 2035, combining issues specific to corporate management and broader socio-economic issues;
- on the basis of this panorama of possibilities, construction of several prospective scenarios in which business leaders could be called upon to evolve by 2035;
- conduct 3 workshops with business leaders to flesh out and complete the scenarios, and draw out the consequences of each of them in terms of decision-making for business leaders. These workshops will be based in part on methodologies inspired by design fiction.