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Artificial intelligence (AI) is undeniably used in many business processes today. In some cases, artificial intelligence helps to make jobs easier, while in others it replaces them. So, in the field of project management, could AI replace the role of a project manager, or is AI here to help the role of a project manager?

Project management is a very complex business process. It involves a variety of disciplines that it is important for a project manager to master (Lahmann, 2019). A project management involves many processes, such as negotiations, coordination with stakeholders, data analysis before making decisions, deciding on the priority scales of activities, monitoring of progress, and so on.

Artificial intelligence possesses the power to solve problems by integrating computer science and robust datasets. It also includes sub-fields like machine learning and deep learning (IBM Cloud Education, n.d.). This system has been programmed to follow a specific, rules-based workflow (Marques, 2021).

Project management is an instance where I believe AI is not meant to replace the human resource, but to assist them in doing their job. Why so? Because there are some activities in project management that need human touch and involvement. For example, coordination and negotiation, humans need to communicate with one another in order to reach a mutual agreement during these processes. It is something that cannot be replaced by AI.

The existence of AI, however, can help project managers. AI can assist with monitoring projects. JIRA is one of AI-based tool to help project managers with this task. Using artificial intelligence, scheduling, reminders, and follow-ups can be easily handled (Schmelzer, 2018). Artificial intelligence can utilize massive amounts of data and analyze historic trends to predict future events accurately, so that the use of AI is also helpful when it comes to making decisions related to projects and when identifying the skills of the team members involved with the project (Munir, 2019). With a properly designed AI implementation strategy, project managers can reduce project failure rates and enhance project planning accuracy (Bajpai, 2020).

Thus, in my opinion, artificial intelligence will not replace project managers but instead will replace those who don’t use AI with those who do use it since project manager that use AI most likely will have smoother processes, better decision quality, and also, they can devote more attention to management and strategy.

References:

Bajpai, K. (2020). Can Artificial Intelligence Replace the Project Manager? [online] SoftwareSuggest Blog. Available at: https://www.softwaresuggest.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-replace-project-manager/#.

IBM Cloud Education (2020). What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? [online] www.ibm.com. Available at: https://www.ibm.com/nl-en/cloud/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence.

Lahmann, M. (2018). AI will transform project management. Are you ready? [online] PwC. Available at: https://www.pwc.ch/en/insights/risk/ai-will-transform-project-management-are-you-ready.html.

Marques, C. (2021). How Artificial Intelligence can Help in Project Management | Modis. [online] www.modis.com. Available at: https://www.modis.com/en-be/insights/blog/how-artificial-intelligence-can-help-in-project-management/.

Munir, M. (2019). How Artificial Intelligence Can Help Project Managers. Global Journal of Management and Business Research: A Administration and Management, 19(4).

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I bet we all have experienced situations where we mentioned a brand or product, and then a few moments later there is an online advertisement showing the thing that was mentioned earlier, even though we hadn’t googled or searched for it. It raises the question as to whether our smartphone or app in our smartphone is capable of hearing our private conversations. In fact, many companies are now implementing data monetization, however, if they do so by listening to our daily conversations and using the data for commercial purposes, it makes many users uncomfortable. So, are they really hearing us?

According to Kröger and Raschke (2019), eavesdropping operations could be performed through two channels: microphones and motion sensors on smartphone. Apps are able to access the microphone if permission has been granted. The problem is, people accept permission requests without considering the consequences, when they really need the app. When a permission is granted, it is usually not transparent how, why, and to what extent data will be collected. Motion sensors, the second channel, can be sensitive enough to detect sound vibrations and potentially reconstruct speech. The access to motion sensors can be directly performed by third-party apps on iOS and Android without the user being notified (Kröger and Raschke, 2019).

It’s rare to find journals and articles discussing this issue. Nevertheless, Maheswari (2017) found that a start-up company named Alphonso collects customer data using smartphone microphones. Your phone is accessed by the company by integrating its software into games you download. Your phone is all ears if you download one of these games and click “accept” when prompted for access to your microphone (Aonso, 2018).

Despite the fact that there are not many studies on the possibility that your smartphone or application is listening to your private conversations, the Alphonso case should be a wake-up call for us to be more cautious. We need to be more aware of what permissions apps ask for and be mindful of what they request in order to avoid future harm (Curran, 2018).

References:

Aonso, C. (2018). Why You Keep Getting Ads For Things You’ve Talked About But Haven’t Searched Up Online. [online] Narcity. Available at: https://www.narcity.com/why-you-keep-getting-ads-for-things-youve-talked-about-but-havent-searched-up-online.

Curran, D. (2018). Are your phone camera and microphone spying on you? | Dylan Curran. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/phone-camera-microphone-spying.

Komando, K. (2019). You’re not paranoid. Your phone really is listening in. [online] Fox News. Available at: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/youre-not-paranoid-your-phone-really-is-listening-in.

Kröger, J.L. and Raschke, P. (2019). Is My Phone Listening in? On the Feasibility and Detectability of Mobile Eavesdropping. Data and Applications Security and Privacy XXXIII, pp.102–120.

Labi, S. (2021). Is your smartphone listening to your conversations? [online] www.9news.com.au. Available at: https://www.9news.com.au/national/is-my-phone-listening-to-me-how-to-tell-what-to-do/09393aa0-77fe-4de5-b719-fef58c79529c.

Maheshwari, S. (2017). That Game on Your Phone May Be Tracking What You’re Watching on TV (Published 2017). The New York Times. [online] 28 Dec. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/business/media/alphonso-app-tracking.html.