How Does AI Change Your Behaviour in the Boardroom?

AI is everywhere. It’s the buzz word of all buzz words and the hottest technology that everyone is talking about. It has made its way into just about every app, every feature, every search engine that we can think of in some way or another. While the excitement around this new technology is palpable, we should stop to think about how it impacts the way that we behave and communicate. Specifically, within the board.

Here are some questions to consider as we discover what AI’s impact will be in the boardroom.

1. Will You Change How You Communicate? 

There is still a lot to explore in terms of the potential AI has in the boardroom. One potential function AI could have is recording a meeting and then distilling the conversation down into either meeting minutes or an executive summary. Here’s where the introspective questions come into play; if you know that you are being recorded, will you change your opinions or how you communicate? Why or why not?

Knowing that an AI is recording every word might make board members hesitant to engage in open, candid, and challenging debate. A healthy boardroom culture relies on a free exchange of ideas, and the presence of an AI could inhibit this, leading to less robust decision-making. It’s only natural to be on your best behaviour when you’re being recorded, so think about how not just your professional, but your personal interactions will be impacted by this software as well.

 2. If AI Eventually Takes Over Parts of Your Job as a Board Member, Will You Be More or Less Engages with Your Duties? 

AI has been developed to speed up processes, take over mundane tasks, and help us find answers to complex issues with more ease. With this in mind, if AI was to take over your duties as a board member, would you lose touch with your sense of engagement and purpose in the board? It’s important to consider that. Will you find yourself taking a step back and relying on AI to complete your duties? Will you be less engaged with your work? It’s important to think of these questions before AI starts to make its way into more of your working tools as a board member.

3. AI Hallucinations and Lack of Accuracy 

AI is great, yes. But it isn’t perfect. If we consider the example of using AI to summarize a board meeting, it always has the possibility of creating a summary piece that either is completely inaccurate or contains biases. This is because of something called hallucinations. These are responses that sound plausible but are in fact not true. An AI summary could potentially misinterpret a discussion or a decision. If this is the case, who then is responsible for the error?

But keep in mind that these are all language learning models. If you provide information and context that is sensitive, it will train based on your input. This might result in the AI model potentially leaking this information to other outside parties.

In consumer-facing tools, the input data is used by the models for learning how to adapt to your way of typing, talking, and thinking. In the Admincontrol solution, the data is specifically not used for training the models so there is more security surrounding your information.

4. Nuance and Context 

A human minute-taker brings a level of judgment, understanding, and discretion that an AI lacks. An AI may not be able to distinguish between a casual comment and a formal resolution or interpret the nuanced tone of a dissenting opinion. This could lead to a summary that is technically accurate but contextually misleading, potentially creating legal risks.

5. The Human Element of Governance

Board governance is not just about data and decisions; it's about relationships, trust, and shared values. The presence of an AI could disrupt the human element of the boardroom, potentially changing the very nature of corporate governance. Be sure to always be engaged with what you’re working on and to foster positive relationships with other board members and directors. You are effectively leading an organisation powered by people, so it’s so important to keep that human element alive in every decision you make.

In Conclusion 

It’s important to reflect on these questions as AI takes a larger role in the work that we do. The responsibility of the board is to be actively involved in all matters that come across your desk. Utilising AI can be an extremely positive and useful tool for your board and organization to adopt. Just remember to that there are always important considerations that you have to make before relying on it too much in your work.