{"id":11840,"date":"2024-05-21T13:39:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T17:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/share.independentagent.com\/?p=11840"},"modified":"2024-05-21T13:39:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T17:39:03","slug":"ai-keep-both-eyes-on-the-road-mostly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/trustedchoice\/blog\/ai-keep-both-eyes-on-the-road-mostly\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Keep Both Eyes on the Road\u2026 Mostly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel.\u00a0 Most of us likely heard something similar as we were learning to drive.\u00a0 It was intended to help us maintain control of our vehicle and to be aware of possible distractions … other cars, objects in the road, animals, or even a child chasing a ball.\u00a0 Ultimately, it was advice to stay focused on what we were doing and minimize the chance of an accident.<\/p>\n

In many ways, this is also sound advice when running an independent agency.\u00a0 Whether discussing your talent needs, changing customer demands, carrier actions, market conditions, succession planning, marking and growth ideas, or technology, there are any number of things that require our focus.<\/p>\n

So, it stands to reason that we should do the business equivalent of keeping our eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel.\u00a0 In fact, we often discuss this approach with agencies as they consider technology changes, as it is critical to stay focused on the fundamental and defined objectives of the agency such as growth plans, hiring needs, geographic expansion, M&A, perpetuation, carrier alignment, operational efficiency, etc.\u00a0 These issues are hard and require keeping both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road to make sure we able to navigate possible distractions.<\/p>\n

Sage advice \u2026 mostly.\u00a0 When in unfamiliar areas where there could be additional distractions and risks that emerge from out of nowhere, it can pay to pay even broader attention. \u00a0In those cases, we often get told to pay broader attention to what\u2019s happening around us.\u00a0 We are entering a new age that promises true societal change and very real impacts on how business is done in our industry, our country, and around the globe.<\/p>\n

Artificial Intelligence<\/strong><\/h2>\n

AI will likely revolutionize nearly every aspect of our professional and personal lives.\u00a0 So, while we need keep our eyes on the road and hands on the wheel to focus on our fundamentals, we should also pay broader attention as we all learn how AI can and will impact the fundamentals of our business and more.<\/p>\n

With the proliferation of AI, one could strongly argue that we\u2019ve never had more opportunity to introduce net new capabilities and ways of conducting business \u2026 and that we\u2019ll need to recognize comparable levels of new risk.\u00a0 Similar to how fire, the invention of the wheel, and the industrial revolution changed everyday tasks, created brand new capabilities, impacted societal dynamics and, importantly, added new risk, AI stands to do the same.\u00a0 And all of this with AI is happening at break-neck speed which can make it challenging to keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel.\u00a0 In fact, this is one of those times when we have an opportunity, and an obligation, to look more broadly than ever before.<\/p>\n

Much has already been written about some early areas in which AI can offer benefits to businesses.\u00a0 Areas such as meeting note taking, task assessments, copy writing, chat bots, contract reviews, addressing duplicate entry, phone systems, niche development, fraud detection, candidate screening, and code writing have already been impacted by AI.\u00a0 Everyone reading this should be paying attention, researching these capabilities, and following rapidly evolving developments if not already beginning to explore some of these in their business.<\/p>\n

But this is just the beginning.\u00a0 The reality is that with the pace and scope of AI development, the things happening outside of our peripheral vision are very real, moving fast, and deserve our attention.\u00a0 If not, we run the risk of issues coming seemingly out of nowhere and having unanticipated impacts on our businesses. Those who stay disciplined on the necessary fundamentals while also paying attention to what\u2019s happening with AI at a larger level will have a leg up on innovation and changing societal demands. \u00a0They may even be the people and businesses shaping the future of our industry.<\/p>\n

While most of us are ill-equipped today to anticipate all the possibilities, it\u2019s not farfetched to imagine a world in the not-so-distant future where we\u2019ll have to ponder and navigate some of the following:<\/p>\n