Deloitte: AI complements human roles, not replaces them

Humans are a critical part of generative AI solutions.

With an ongoing debate about AI’s potential to replace human workers, Rob Hillard, Deloitte Asia Pacific’s Consulting Businesses Leader, reassured that generative AI will not replace humans but rather augment their capabilities.

He said that while tools like ChatGPT have captured the public’s imagination, companies are still determining how to best integrate these technologies. "No company anywhere in the world has fully worked out how they're going to use generative AI in particular, across their organisations," he said. However, some organisations have made significant strides by applying AI in niche areas to achieve specific productivity gains.

Hillard highlighted that human oversight remains crucial in AI applications. "The reality is humans are absolutely a critical part of the generative AI solutions that we're seeing," he stated. Current AI systems often function as supportive tools, providing real-time advice and suggestions to human operators. 

"For many of us, that means having our main screen open, working on a system, talking to a customer, and on a side window, having advice coming from a coach, an AI coach," Hillard explained. This setup helps employees to be more efficient and effective in their tasks.

Despite the rapid development of AI technologies, Hillard believes that full automation is still a distant goal. "It's going to be a little while before the AI is doing that on behalf of the person. And actually, what we're seeing is that we really do want the human in the loop," he asserted. 

One of the significant challenges in integrating AI is ensuring that new technologies work seamlessly with existing systems. "Anything we build at the moment in any of the generative AI technologies is going to be out of date, almost certainly within two years, and maybe even less time than that, because this technology is moving so, so quickly," Hillard noted. Current solutions often act as an interface between AI and legacy systems, enabling smart machines to manipulate data effectively.

Deloitte’s survey of nearly 12,000 people across Asia Pacific revealed a widespread enthusiasm for AI, with many employees already incorporating it into their daily tasks. Hillard said that about 40% of employees actively use AI at work, reporting productivity gains equivalent to nearly a day a week.