What does it really mean to be AI-powered and what can it do for Project Management?

A week does not pass without us hearing about developments or huge investments on Artificial Intelligence.The attention given to AI is remarkable, it’s like watching a baby take its first steps. We hear everything from AI-powered tools learning new tricks, developing their own language or how our future might look like with AI.

The AI hype also got everyone talking about machine learning, NLP, algorithms and concepts that before were just jargons limited to the computer science community. Now, companies and consumers from various fields are showing interest on AI and how it could be integrated more in our daily lives.

But as AI becomes more popular, many enterprises have associated the term “AI-powered” to their products or services too casually. Similar to what happened during the ‘green revolution’ when enterprises started labeling their products or services as ‘eco-friendly’, now many tech companies have somehow exploited the word ‘AI-powered’.

How to distinguish real AI from fake AI?

It is difficult to distinguish which products really utilize machine learning and AI technology from those who just tries to imitate it using smartly scripted if statements for the purpose of jumping on the bandwagon.

Here are some characteristics of an AI-powered tool:

· AI could do things proactively

The first thing that comes to people’s mind when thinking about AI is automation. But AI is more than automating tasks; it is also about the initiative. It could do things on its own without requiring a human to press a button or prompt it to do something. In what situations would it be useful in project management? The AI has the initiative to monitor the amount of time the team has been working on a task, and then uses this information to deliver status reports and overdue predictions. This requires real-time task monitoring and data analysis which is done even without being prompted by the user.

· AI is supportive

An AI-powered tool should be able to complement the efforts of its users through intelligent suggestions and recommendations. Two different users may have similar issues, but the answer isn’t always the same. By analyzing variations in work patterns, the AI will be able to explain why tasks are getting overdue, so the project manager can apply his best solutions. The AI can provide the support the project manager needs in order for him to exercise his skills in decision-making and problem solving.

· AI is smart

Any AI-powered tool is programmed to mimic how humans came up with their decisions. The AI provides what most people refer to as ‘artificial thought’ allowing the AI to solve issues on their own. The AI is given a lot of data and information and it is smart enough to classify these data to create accurate predictions and suggestions. In the case of the AI application in project management, it could analyze the team’s workload and then classify the factors affecting tasks in order to generate the probability of missed or overdue deadlines.

· AI continues to learn

Although it’s already smart, a real AI continues to absorb information from its users so the longer a person uses the AI, the more it becomes competent in analyzing data and recommending solutions. Machine learning also allows the AI to manage tendencies by drawing data from the past to determine what you might do next. The more data it analyzes, the more refined and accurate its answers will become in the future.

What it takes to be AI-powered?

There are endless possibilities on what AI can do and tech companies know that. The AI hype, however, is a double-edged sword. It has brought more attention to AI resulting in more investments and further development. But, it also attracted enterprises and vendors to identify themselves as AI-powered even though they are not or they don’t need to be. In the end, the real measure of an AI-powered tool is its maximization and functionality like how the AI is programmed to bring more value to the product or service and help its end users.

KnightSpear is an AI-powered project management system which leverages Machine Learning AI to automate task monitoring and analyze performance data and work patterns in order to support project managers in decision making and problem solving. The AI Work Coach, Isabella, predicts task overdue and makes recommendations on how to avoid delivery problems before they happen. For more information about KnightSpear’s AI work coach visit the website https://www.knightspear.com/

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