Artificial intelligence tools may accelerate task completion, but they don’t automatically boost productivity unless companies fundamentally redesign how work gets done, according to Ramine Tinati, lead at Accenture PLC‘s (NYSE:ACN) APAC Center for Advanced AI.
What Happened: Speaking at Fortune’s Brainstorm AI Singapore conference last week, Tinati challenged the post-ChatGPT corporate frenzy to integrate AI into workflows.
“If you give employees a tool to do things faster, they do it faster. But are they more productive? Probably not, because they do it faster and then go for coffee breaks,” Tinati explained.
The comments highlight a critical disconnect between AI adoption and measurable business outcomes as companies pour billions into generative AI infrastructure.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has committed over $100 billion to AI investments, while Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) allocated $80 billion for AI data centers despite cutting 9,000 jobs this year.
Tinati emphasized that genuine productivity gains require “reinventing the work” rather than simply accelerating existing processes. He noted some Asian companies lag in AI adoption because “they don’t think about reinventing the work.”
Singapore’s Home Team Science and Tech Agency reported a 200% improvement in information extraction processes, according to Chief AI Officer Chee Wee Ang, according to the Fortune report. The government agency, which handles national security tech development, uses AI for tasks previously impossible, including responding to new crime types.
Why It Matters: The productivity debate intensifies as unemployment among recent college graduates climbed from 4% to 6.3%, according to ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, who cited AI’s disruptive impact on entry-level positions.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) CTO Shyam Sankar countered that AI creates “superpowers” for workers, making them “50 times more productive” rather than merely 50% more efficient.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently warned that AI will shrink corporate workforces, with former VP Ethan Evans stating the company “won’t keep everyone” despite new AI projects generating over 1,000 services in development.
The challenge extends beyond individual companies. Economist Craig Shapiro predicts AI could disrupt 25% of all jobs by 2030, a structural shift that traditional Federal Reserve interest rate tools cannot address.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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