The digital landscape is ever evolving, and one of the major technology buzzwords this year has been artificial intelligence, or AI. However, AI is not merely a buzzword, but rather a shift in technology that will change how we work, if it has not already.
Artificial intelligence itself is nothing new. In fact, the term was coined in 1955 and the first AI conference was held at Dartmouth College the following year. However, the concept and technology has evolved since 1955 and become integrated into our daily lives in many ways—some noticeable and some not.
AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that can perform tasks typically requiring intelligence from a human (e.g., synthesizing across sources of information). This encompasses a wide range of techniques and technologies:
AI is not conscious or self-aware; it lacks emotion, moral, and ethical values. AI is also not infallible: It can make errors and relies on the quality of training data and design of algorithms. AI is not free of bias. This is especially important for associations, whose work centers around people. AI can inherit biases from the data used to train it, leading to biased decisions and outcomes. Most importantly, AI is not a human replacement.
Associations should be encouraged by the dual opportunity to both educate and provide guidance to members on AI’s impact and possibilities and harness AI themselves to improve services and operations. Doing so will ultimately foster a more informed and technology proficient community.
However, as associations delve into new technology, it’s important to assuage the fears of staff and members illustrate to them how AI is an approachable, accessible and assistive technology that can help associations excel.
Here are five ways you can begin to embrace the technology:
The rapid proliferation of AI products is outpacing the development of legal frameworks, which has led to challenges in areas such as intellectual property, copyright, data privacy, and security. This is important to consider for input and output of AI products. Associations should also provide guidance to staff and members on the risks of submitting any intellectual property or private data to an AI product and of claiming authorship and ownership of content generated by AI.
In addition to legal concerns, it is important that association staff monitor AI outputs closely. As previously mentioned, AI can create biased outputs and datasets may need to be updated. Generative AI is known to hallucinate or create false information that often masquerades well and can be mistaken as truth. This means that any generative AI outputs must be carefully fact-checked before use.
Ultimately, AI is the intersection of technology and creativity. The recent accessibility of AI presents associations with an opportunity to adopt this robust technology and a responsibility to do so thoughtfully. As stewards for our association members and stakeholders, we must be transparent and maintain high standards for leaders in our respective fields. The benefits from this valuable addition to the association toolkit will continue to grow with the technology.
Authors’ note: AI was used in the development of this article to generate ideas, gather information, construct sentences, ensure proper grammar, and produce an image.
About the authors:
Amy Gavin, CAE, is director of digital strategy for the American Society for Nutrition.
Elizabeth Santana, MBA, CPTD, ICE-CCP, CAE, is director of conceptual research and design for Inteleos.
This article originally appeared on ASAE's Center for Association Excellence. OSAP appreciates the commitment ASAE has to serving and strengthening the field of association management. Please select this link to read the complete article, as it originally was published on ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.