Digital transformation (1/2): Collective intelligence

Digital transformation is much more than just a technological revolution. It is also a truly socioeconomic revolution. Until this pivotal shift, our civilisation was all about centralised hierarchies that leveraged individual intelligence. In the new epoch, social structures will be based on highly sophisticated distributed networks that will be able to make great use of both human and artificial collective intelligence.

Illustration

According to an article on the management-issues.com website, within the next 10 years we can expect two events to happen, both of which will have far-reaching consequences:

  • All humans and things will become connected via a common digital network.
  • Human collective intelligence will be proliferated via sophisticated systems based on artificial intelligence.

Fundamental architectural shift

The resulting human-machine symbiosis will provide access to extraordinarily fast and powerful collective intelligence of enormous capacity. We understand hierarchical structures well but, unfortunately, the majority of people don’t understand the dynamics of networks. Therefore we underestimate the magnitude of these changes – and also their exponential rate.

Networks will bring collective intelligence

Hierarchies and networks are not interchangeable structures. Networks are capable of outperforming hierarchies in terms of both intelligence and speed. Why? They enable us to leverage the collective intelligence of many individuals. Hierarchies always relied on smart individuals, on a certain elite. Networks dramatically speed up our quest for knowledge. Collective intelligence is a great game changer and the single most important outcome of digital transformation.

-jk-

 

 

Article source Management Issues - British website cntaining practical information, tips and advice to managers
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