13 warnings about using AI at work

AI experts from industry and academia were gathered by the Turing Institute to consider the future of the technology. Nicole Kobie reveals the lessons they offered

Odds are that you’re already using AI at work, whether you know it or not – artificial intelligence powers smartphone cameras, online search and plenty of other algorithms, after all. But since OpenAI’s ChatGPT landed in 2022, the generative AI explosion has changed how businesses use and plan to use this nascent technology.

It’s no longer just an ingredient in a larger piece of software – though as we’ll see, that’s still the case – but AI is now a tool to address different problems across industries. “The question still remains on the extent to which we can really make use of this technology, and where we can actually put this technology to use safely and responsibly,” said Michael Wooldridge, professor of computer science at the University of Oxford.

Is AI overhyped? Inarguably, yes. Though it’s early days for generative AI, it’s perhaps too soon to run mission-critical operations – but it is possible to find ways to use generative AI and large-language models (LLMs) at work. Experts from government, academia and industry gathered at the end of March for the Alan Turing Institute’s UK AI conference, revealing a host of ways in which generative AI is already being used.

That includes chatbots for M&S store staff, creating bespoke lessons for students, and generating reports from auto-transcribed meetings. All of these are small, genuinely helpful use cases: they’re not upending their respective industries but enabling better work in less time.