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Artificial Intelligence And Its Role In Collaborating Across Cultures Posted on : Jun 24 - 2019

At its core, technology is meant to make our lives easier and help connect us. The rise of the smartphone, mobile email, instant messaging, social media and countless other innovations have resulted in more instantaneous, always-on correspondence. That correspondence has, in turn, vaulted the business world into becoming ever more globalized. Whether the distance spans continents, countries or simply the next cubicle over, it’s imperative that we use technology to establish communication that not only connects, but also informs, the way we work.

How do we connect and inform through tech, working not just faster, but smarter and better, too? Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently emerged as a contributing factor in the collaboration space. Long touted as a solution for healthcare, robotics, cybersecurity and other sectors, AI is incrementally breaking down barriers in the workplace, helping to make meetings and other interpersonal communication substantively more efficient and effective.

Leveraging AI To Collaborate Better

The modern meeting room is increasingly defined by technology -- 4K video, voice control across devices, content sharing and more combine to give workers a level of intuitiveness that was previously thought impossible. But beyond the convenience and ease-of-use of the new meeting experience, another benefit has emerged. These various inputs also create a wellspring of data, all of which can be applied to improve the way we work and collaborate -- provided we have the proper tools to dissect it.

That’s where AI comes in.

A core function of AI is its ability to take large amounts of information, terabytes even, and quickly make sense of it, then transfer it into digestible insights that can be used by humans for decision making processes. This is pertinent, as meetings feature multiple sources of video, audio and content, all of which can be assessed, compressed and repurposed to provide insights.

As an example, multiple cameras in a meeting or conference call can be coupled with AI to help keep the pulse of the mood in the room. By analyzing participants’ faces or body language, we can deduce things like the following: Are people engaged? Is there free-flowing conversation? Is someone sleeping? What’s on the whiteboard? Taking those observations a step further, if we’re running into problems or information logjams, how can we shift the focus of the meeting to make sure it’s more targeted and impactful?

One can imagine the effect this might have on both internal and external communication. Whether coordinating with a sales team or having a face-to-face with a prospective client, AI can quickly crunch the raw content to identify speakers by their facial or vocal patterns, discern what tasks need to be followed up on and help maximize the value of a meeting overall, rather than attempting to extract value or review and glean insights after the fact. View More