Using AI in the development of the digital economy has numerous benefits, but there are also potential drawbacks to consider 

by AKMAR ANNUAR 

IN TODAY’S era of modern technology, the corporate sector and the government are integrating numerous artificial intelligence (AI) platforms into their daily work. 

The term “AI” was coined as early as the 1950s to refer to the simulation of human intelligence by machines. AI can be explained as an interdisciplinary science with multiple approaches and advancements in machine learning and deep learning, resulting in a paradigm shift in virtually every sector of the technology industry. 

Several industry players utilising AI shared their insights with The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) regarding the pros and cons of machine learning technology in the development of the digital economy. 

Exabytes Group Sdn Bhd CEO and founder Chan Kee Siak told TMR that there has been an increasing trend of AI being integrated into day-to-day routines, with corporations leading the way. These include chatbots for customer service, natural language processing for data analysis, machine learning for predictive maintenance and computer vision for quality control. 

Additionally, he said the AI leap is also helping companies automate routine tasks, improve decision making and increase efficiency. 

“As with any other digital adoption, there are pros and cons to using AI in the development of the digital economy. On the plus side, AI can undoubtedly automate routine tasks and assist businesses in making faster and more accurate decisions, which can lead to increased productivity and efficiency,” he said. 

In his opinion, AI-powered chatbots and personalisation tools can assist businesses in providing a better customer experience, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

“Moreover, AI can also analyse large amounts of data and detect patterns that humans may miss, resulting in improved decision-making accuracy,” he told TMR. 

Exabytes is a Penang-based web hosting company as well as solutions provider for business, cloud, digital and e-commerce. 

Sharing similar views, Big Dataworks Sdn Bhd CEO Sheriza Zakaria said companies use AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants to provide customer support and answer common questions. 

“Most companies use predictive analytics to analyse large data sets and make data-driven decisions. For example, retailers can use it to predict consumer behaviour, optimise inventory and for sales projection,” said the CEO of the tech company that provides solutions in data supply, data analytics, management of information and physical documents storage. 

Sheriza added the AI-powered image and speech recognition technologies are being used in a variety of industries such as CCTV (closed-circuit TV) and online onboarding for know-your-customer (KYC) elements. 

Then is also natural language processing (NLP) which is used to help companies analyse and understand unstructured data such as customer reviews, social media posts and email messages. 

The positive side of AI, as stated by Sheriza, includes cost savings, higher efficiency, and the potential to improve turnaround time, such as speed in processing and predictive forecasting. It also promotes analytics as a key competency and can improve customer experience. 

AI also benefits the sales team. GrakChat CEO Sazali Shahid said AI can help a company to generate more sales because it records and understands users’ behaviour, referring them to more products to select from. 

“With AI, a company can provide chatbot to answer customer enquiries, thus reducing headcounts and less budget for hires,” he noted. 

Founded by Grak Networks Sdn Bhd, GrakChat is a platform that allows customers, merchants and online service providers to interact through GrakChat messaging. 

Sazali said GrakChat uses QMS.sys (Queue Management System) as it can route clients to relevant persons based on their stated issues. 

Human Resource 

For a human resource (HR) point of view, TMR spoke to the VV Consulting Group founder Vaishana Vasuthavan. 

“The integration of AI in HR is a rapidly growing trend. It is transforming how organisations manage their human capital, improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. 

“AI-enabled HR tools can automate routine tasks, analyse large amounts of data and provide valuable insights for strategic decision-making,” she said. 

Vaishana said with all the benefits of adaptation and integration of AI in the HR system, companies must ensure that the technology is aligned with their HR strategy and that it is ethical and transparent, ensuring that employees are trained to use AI-enabled tools and that they understand the benefits of AI technology. 

“As an experienced HR practitioner, I firmly believe that the benefits of AI in HR cannot be ignored. In fact, there are several advantages that HR can achieve by incorporating AI into its daily tasks,” she said. 

Highlighting that recruiting the right talent can be a time-consuming and expensive process, Vaishana added that with the help of AI-powered tools, HR teams can save time and resources by automating repetitive tasks like resume screening and candidate selection. 

“The algorithms can analyse resumes and match candidates to job descriptions based on qualifications and experience, making it easier to identify the best-fit candidates for the role,” she added. 

There’s more. AI can reduce bias in the hiring process by standardising evaluation criteria, promoting diversity and inclusion, and ensuring equal opportunity for promotions. 

Furthermore, she added AI can help HR teams understand the factors that contribute to employee engagement, such as work environment, workload and compensation, by analysing data on employee behaviour and sentiment. 

In addition, AI can aid performance management by analysing employee data, identifying patterns and suggesting personalised development plans for individual employees to help them improve their skills and advance within the organisation.

Since HR teams must ensure compliance with various regulations, such as labour laws and data protection regulations, AI can help them stay compliant by automating compliance checks and identifying potential compliance issues. 

Human Factors 

Although using AI in the development of the digital economy has numerous benefits, there are also potential drawbacks to consider. 

One major concern, highlighted by Chan of Exabytes, is the possibility of job displacement, as routine tasks become automated and some jobs become obsolete. 

Additionally, the opacity of AI algorithms can make it difficult for humans to under- stand how decisions are being made, which can lead to trust issues. 

“Furthermore, AI algorithms can be biased if they are trained on biased data, which can result in unfair outcomes. It is essential to address these concerns and develop strategies to mitigate these risks to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI in the workplace,” he said. 

At the same time, he further added that the use of chatbots could cause a negative perception towards the company as clients still prefer to speak to an actual person in order to properly convey the type of assistance they need. 

Big Dataworks’ Sheriza concurs on the reduction of job opportunities for routine tasks. “There will also be a bias in AI knowledge, which means that a lot of data will be required to train AI. Additionally, there will be security threats, including cyber security threats and the need for human intervention policies,” Sheriza shared.

Vaishana said when streamlining daily routines in human resources, chatbots may be a useful tool, though they are easily exploited by hackers through cyber attacks or identity theft. 

She also noted that there can be accidental creation of biases and removal of skilled, diverse candidates when AI is used for sorting out applicants as algorithms are used by hiring boards to get their job ad to the candidates. 

“These algorithms tend to be targeted at the people they believe will most likely be clicking the job and not the candidates who are most suitable for the role. In addition, they may not be capable of selecting candi- dates based on the company culture and core values, and this would only potentially help you with candidates who are technically proficient,” she added. 

Further on the downside of AI, Sazali of GrakChat said assuming AI will generate decisions based on gathered statistics, it is likely to satisfy 80% of the users. 

He said even as AI becomes more prevalent, there is an underlying thinking that humans will always be relevant in the workplace as they possess abilities such as creativity, empathy and critical thinking that machines cannot replicate. 

On this, Chan agrees, and has suggested that companies should start investing in education and training programmes that teach in-demand skills such as data analysis, programming and digital marketing. 

On the role of humans, Sheriza said humans are always relevant as they are the ones who design the AI logical thinking, build the framework and constantly find data to feed AI’s knowledge. 

“Humans have the capabilities to inter- act freely with another human, learn and observe their behaviour in expressions, feelings and body language, which are important in customer engagement. 

“We have moral reasoning, creativity, emotional intelligence and contextual understanding. This also comes from the wisdom that AI is dependent on tonnes of databases,” he said. 

Vaishana concurs. She said humans are unique as they acquire knowledge through their own experiences and exposure with the tendency to take risks, and this has been the foundation of innovations. 

“The intellectual workforce of tomorrow will be a combination of the human element and AI-enabled insights,” she concluded. 

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• This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition