Overcoming Apprehension around Emerging Technologies

Change can be unsettling, and nowhere is that more evident than in the world of technology. How many people said they could never part with their Blackberries after the iPhone was released?

How many called the Internet a fad in 1994? Television could never replace radio according to people in 1955 and electricity itself? Skeptics everywhere called it an “unrestrained demon” in 1889 that would destroy civilization.

And artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing apocalyptic images to mind for a lot of people in 2024, thank you very much, Terminator movies.

The apprehension to adapting breaks into two parts. The social aspect of a person’s life demands that technology be adopted, and we’ve reached the point where expanding one’s social network depends on using what’s the most convenient. AI is starting to replace Google searches for those looking for answers or advice and being left behind can present real problems.

What scares companies the most?

On the business side, ignoring AI is no longer an option, especially for medium to large businesses. Those that are apprehensive tend to lose professional positions. Apprehensive businesses are losing to market competition. Skeptics point to AI taking jobs, and while in some industries that could happen, it’s not about being replaced by technology, rather, by people who are more adopted to the new technologies.

So, what is scaring companies the most? Senior VP at Customertimes, Taras Kravets, compared it to when customer relationship management (CRM) first came into play 25 years ago.

“It was the new thing on the market, and no one really knew how to adapt to this technology or how to adopt it, and how to get value out of it.” he said. “Now it’s a commodity, now you can’t imagine a company, medium or large, without a CRM in place, whether they’re doing B2B or B2C.”

The biggest apprehension, he added, comes from lack of knowledge and lack of experience.

“There will be a lot of learning by doing, a lot of mistakes will be made down the road and a lot of money will be spent on those mistakes,” he said. “But those companies that succeed and be able to run the last mile will lead the markets.”

Using technology to stay ahead of the curve

But it’s human nature to be resistant to change. Kravets pointed out that several years ago when he switched from a Windows computer to a Mac, he would get frustrated because, among the many other differences between the two operating systems, the button to click to close a window was on the opposite side. It frustrated him because it was not what he was accustomed to.

But in the corporate world, it’s more than just getting used to a couple of buttons. Kravets said it’s about changing business processes and people’s responsibilities. A lot of times people’s jobs will be changed. It’s a technological process and it has happened many times in the history of humanity. When the first production lines were introduced, people were skeptical.

The goal of any automation process, he said, is to get rid of human error, and all these technologies are bringing a lot of value to the people who will be able to learn and adopt. Anyone in a leadership role wanting to abate anyone’s fears should lead by example, and demonstrate how the technology is helping for the trainer personally or professionally. Workers should be educated in a way that shows new ways of doing things are not a threat, but opportunities to become better, stronger and more competitive on the market.

“Those who learn from these changes will grow,” Kravets said. “And those companies that will be able to run the last mile will lead the markets.”