Leveraging AI: Embracing emerging technology in the retirement industry

Ready or not, the brave new world of artificial intelligence has arrived and already is changing the workplace, as well as the retirement industry.

“It’s become clear that organizations will need to utilize these tools to maximize their efforts in the future, considering that we all have limited resources,” said Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, which seeks to encourage the development of public policies that enhance retirement security.

Doonan moderated “Leveraging AI in the Retirement Industry,” a recent webinar sponsored by Linea Solutions. Akio Tagawa, president and CEO of Linea, discussed the importance of creating a culture of AI in the workplace.

“We believe this is a monumental point in our lives and also in our work lives,” he said. “We think things will never be the same, in the same way that the internet has affected our work lives. What we are seeing is that some organizations are addressing the situation by trying to prevent its use, probably because of many of the unknowns about it and because of the chaos it could create. Our position is that is not possible or practical to take this position. While AI has the potential to be used to harm, it also has a great ability to create some very positive things.”

Given the power of generative AI and the speed at which advancements are being made, AI will be used for almost everything that knowledge workers do, Tagawa said. A culture of AI envisions an organization in which the staff will use AI tools in one form or another every day in which they work. The organization will support staff to learn and not be afraid of getting skilled at the use of AI tools.

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The use of AI addresses the growing problem of digital debt, which Microsoft describes as the circumstance in which people no longer are able to keep up with the administration of their lives and spend more time each day attending meetings; responding to emails, phone calls and texts; and less time producing or creating. Workers spend more than half of the workday communicating, and nearly 70% say they don’t have enough uninterrupted time to focus.

Automating the organization of emails; automating the creation of meeting minutes to gather action items and key decisions; and analyzing data are among the tasks that AI can perform in an everyday work environment. It can take on more industry-focused work in individual firms or member service organizations.

“We think this is a really powerful tool that takes large bodies of text and information and creates a knowledge base,” said Nathan Haws, associate principal consultant for Linea. “You put this tool in the hands of your staff – or perhaps even member-facing at some point – and we see a lot of potential for empowering staff with a very knowledgeable assistant that is at their fingertips 24/7.”

Using AI is like having a conversation and communicating with another person, Tagawa said. “The more you set up related prompts, the more the AI understands what you mean,“ he said. “The better your prompts, the greater chance the AI will provide responses that are correct and are aligned with your intentions.”

He said he way in which Linea has created a culture of AI:

• Is systematic;
• Protects against risks;
• Leverage the interest and skills within the organization;
• Is nimble enough to adapt to the rapid rate of innovation; and
• Lives on through continuous process improvement.

“The way to create order out of the potential for chaos with the use of AI, at least for us, is to embrace it,” Tagawa said. “Take a systematic approach on how you can incorporate it into the work culture, all while managing the inherent risks. Given its ubiquity, it is important that every organization embrace AI and create a culture of AI.”