A new lens on AI: augmented intelligence

Narrow AI and the human-machine relationship

Humor Experts, Emotion Strategists, and Holistic Managers. If we continue down the path of automation and AI, our workforce is bound to undergo creative transformations. According to Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson, the skills we previously took for granted will qualify us for new and exciting positions. In Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI, the two Accenture IT executives make a case for human-machine synergies that will invigorate our industrial society.

Despite profound AI-driven changes experienced by professionals in the healthcare, accounting, and legal industries, to name a few areas, the robot-replaces-humans trope has not subsided. The concern that artificial intelligence will eventually think and decide like humans has become ubiquitous. This brand of AI imposes sentient qualities onto technology and is known as artificial general intelligence or AGI. However, narrow AI, powered by machine learning and deep learning, is currently the only kind of AI in use. Narrow AI doesn’t perform arbitrary thinking or make abstract decisions, it relies entirely on experts to be involved in training its algorithms.

Augmented intelligence is the alternative label that has arisen to reflect the evolving human-machine relationship more accurately. “AI is a continuum of capabilities, going from process automation on one side to autonomous intelligence ... somewhere in the middle is what we call augmented intelligence,” said Jean-Claude Saghbini, CTO of Wolters Kluwer Health, in a recent interview.

Is artificial intelligence replacing people?

Healthcare professionals and AI

By augmenting our abilities as professionals, narrow AI is freeing up our time. In the healthcare industry narrow AI is freeing up doctors to treat more patients, helping them stay more informed and connected with patients outside of doctors’ visits. AI modeling, an inference method based on a model of the world or workplace for that matter, has also helped data scientists and caregivers see connections between patient answers and symptoms. Advanced modeling also reveals other patterns of risk and flags data to improve care delivery and management.

At Wolters Kluwer Health, Point of Care Advisor was developed through supervised learning with medical practitioners. The AI technology leverages natural language processing (NLP) to extract information and meaning from unstructured clinical notes. This solution now allows clinicians in US hospitals to detect and treat sepsis – a potentially life-threatening condition that often goes undiagnosed at an unprecedented rate.

Pairing news stories with regulatory change

Wolters Kluwer has also applied augmented intelligence in regulation and accounting. An example is CCH Axcess iQ, which detects events such as news stories and regulatory changes and creates resources for the accountant based on this. CCH Axcess iQ includes an event query that searches a database to identify clients that may have been impacted by regulatory changes, a process that usually takes months. “We took elements of predictive analytics and AI and highlighted where customer clients would be impacted by new regulations, [resulting in] upwards of 30% efficiency measured through productivity,” said Jason Marx, President and CEO of Tax & Accounting North America at Wolters Kluwer, in an interview with Nancy McKinstry, CEO of Wolters Kluwer.

AI adoption in the legal industry

When it comes to advanced technologies, adoption rates are still in the early stages in the legal industry, according to our 2019 report Future Ready Lawyer. However, significant growth is expected in the next three years, with more than 30 percent of the $1 billion invested in legal platforms dedicated to legal solutions incorporating AI. According to Robert Ambrogi, a lawyer and legal technology expert, the legal tools driven by artificial intelligence will primarily address document review, diligence review and compliance.

In some areas of the industry, AI has already begun to make its way into legal professionals’ workflow. M&A Clause Analytics and Capital Markets Clause Analytics, two solutions within the Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US securities law portfolio, allow professionals to dramatically streamline their work processes through AI. The AI quickly identifies specific articles and clauses within an agreement and compares them to the standard language used in clauses of that type. “Legal professionals are increasingly in need of workflow solutions that address their most critical pain points – and AI holds significant potential to do just that,”said Dean Sonderegger, head of Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory US.

The future workforce

While the fear remains that AI will replace jobs roles, many experts are highlighting the dormant opportunities available in having machines help us with our work. A recent PwC report stated: “The rise of artificial intelligence is driving a new shift in value creation focused on sentiments more intrinsic to the human experience: thinking, creativity, and problem-solving.” At Wolters Kluwer, we incorporate a combination of artificial intelligence and human expertise across solutions within the company’s portfolio. This has created safer, productive and more efficient workplaces for the professionals we serve in 90 percent of US banks, 40 of the top global banks in the world, and over a million accountants and 250.000 lawyers across the globe. Our data scientists and subject matter experts work with professionals every day to innovate on their workflows through supervised learning and narrow AI, augmenting the professional of the future.