AI, a multi-faceted toolbox
AI is not a single technology, but a range of tools adapted to a variety of needs. To name but a few: chatbots improve customer service, machine learning algorithms predict market trends, and computer vision systems optimize factory quality. These tools do not replace humans: they assist them, freeing them from tedious tasks and allowing them to concentrate on what requires creativity and judgment.
Above all, the accessibility and relative ease of use of consumer tools has led to their meteoric adoption. You don't have to be a computer engineer to benefit from them. If students use them at Cegep and university to help them with their work, surely SMEs can do the same to optimize their operations?
But AI is no magic wand. It excels at repetitive, data-driven tasks, but shows its limitations when it comes to empathy, leadership or complex problem-solving. Simply put, it won't replace your best manager or your star designer.
Not for the time being, at any rate, if we are to believe Statistics Canada's forecasts for the share of the workforce likely to be impacted by AI, by occupational category.
Changing jobs: an opportunity rather than a threat
Yes, some jobs are more exposed to automation. Repetitive manual tasks such as assembly or logistics, or simple administrative tasks such as data entry, are on the front line.
But rather than seeing this as a threat, why not see it as an opportunity?
The Institut du Québec study confirms it: tomorrow's jobs will require different skills. Supervising, analyzing and interpreting the results produced by AI will become a key skill. For example, a logistics employee could move from manual inventory management to analyzing supply chain data to optimize flows.
Sectors most likely to develop automation (in number of workers concerned) - Source: Statistics Canada, Census of Canada 2021 (special compilation)
The key to staying in the race: ongoing training
To support this transition, ongoing training is essential. Workers need to acquire new skills, such as managing AI tools, data analysis or even basic programming. But SMEs also have a crucial role to play: investing in training their teams and supporting them in this transformation.
Imagine a company that trains its employees to use a new AI tool for inventory management. Not only does it increase productivity, it also strengthens the loyalty and motivation of its teams.
The impact on SMEs: productivity and competitiveness
For SMEs, AI is a unique opportunity to stand out from the crowd. By automating time-consuming processes, they can cut costs, improve the quality of their products and services, and focus on innovation. For example, a manufacturing company could use AI to predict machine breakdowns and avoid production stoppages.
The productivity gains are real, and represent a real opportunity at a time when Quebec and Canada are lagging behind other industrialized countries in terms of productivity. According to the Institut du Québec, AI could boost the competitiveness of Quebec companies by enabling them to do more with less. But to take full advantage, we need to act now, without confusing speed with haste.
AI for AI's sake may not have the desired results:
- Automating low value-added jobs will not significantly boost productivity.
- Simply substituting jobs will have consequences for the retraining of the people occupying these positions.
Today, forecasts of adoption and productivity gains mainly concern large companies (which have the expertise and access to resources and financing). This is highly regrettable, as SMEs represent the bulk of organizations and 50% of GDP[i]; and programs exist to help them begin their transformation. A transformation towards AI that needs to be supervised to ensure that it is aligned with business objectives and that the gains are made at the level of the organization, of course, but also at the level of the teams and the country.
Risks and obstacles
It's not enough to want to deploy AI to make it happen: certain factors can limit its development.
- Inertia specific to the company: inability to change or create processes, resistance to change...
- Technical and regulatory difficulties: legal constraints specific to certain sectors, increasing complexity of AI models, rising development costs...
- Focus on automation: replacing the workforce rather than creating new productive tasks, no employee skills development plan...
Nor can we overlook the fear of some that they will simply be replaced. While perfectly understandable, the reality is more nuanced: AI mostly automates specific tasks, not entire jobs. The fact that one type of job is affected by the arrival of AI doesn't mean it will disappear; more often than not, it leads to an improvement in job quality.
At the risk of repeating ourselves, the development of AI that will support or create jobs (vs. substitute AI), requires :
- Policies and regulations (tax incentives, support programs)
- Skills development plans for workers (to enable them to be more resilient in the face of labor market transformations and technological advances).
Transforming together
The AI revolution won't happen without workers. It must be inclusive, collaborative and supported. Quebec SMEs have everything to gain from integrating AI strategically, by training their teams and rethinking their processes.
Why not start today? An AI-focused digital transformation coaching program could be your springboard to a more agile, competitive and humane business.
To find out more :
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