AI is a trending topic. You should have seen several posts and news about AI trends and how they will affect our lives in the future. How about the effects of AI on Project Management? Will AI replace project managers? Many professions will diminish as robots and AI takes over the role of human behavior. Can AI take the role of Project Manager?
There are many debates on AI and how it can impact our lives and many professions in the future. We have explored the effects of AI on project management and project managers in this post.
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How to use AI in Project Management?
Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition, and machine vision. So, AI can help us in many ways in project management.
For instance, budget estimation is always a hassle in projects. Considering the active risks in the project, actual costs of the project, and future tasks, AI systems can predict the project completion budget.
Or, if there is a repetitive task in the project, such as painting rooms in a building, installing a PC, etc. Doing the first tasks and other tasks will require different amounts of time. AI can help the project manager predict the learning curve effect and duration of the repetitive tasks in the project.
There are many examples of how AI can help project managers in their daily work.
Will AI Replace Project Managers?
If you ask this question to AI developers and enthusiasts, they say that every profession can be replaced by AI. However, we do not think that AI will replace project managers. Let us explain why.
Project management is interdisciplinary. There are many industries that depend on project management. And, in project management, each project is unique; the facts and specific steps to take in each circumstance varies. The Project Manager must bring creativity, strategy, and innovation which AI cannot do.
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I am sure you should have heard of Chat GPT, which is a new AI tool that generates comprehensive answers on any topic you ask a question. We have asked about a common project management issue that may happen in any project team in Chat GPT. Check the result:
Well, when you look at the ideas thrown by AI, they are all good. However, AI cannot decide how to proceed in this conflict. Depending on the project management experience, a project manager should use their soft skills to understand the root cause of the conflict and try to find a win-win solution for the project.
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There can be many other examples in a project that AI can give information to the project manager; however, it cannot take control of the project as a project manager.
How AI Will Transform Project Management?
As it transformed many other areas, AI will transform project management as well. Especially, in terms of budgeting, scheduling, and reporting, we expect AI to help project managers manage their projects more efficiently.
For instance, AI can compare a new project with an already completed similar project, and estimate the task durations more accurately. This will help project managers to finish their projects on time with less deviation from the target.
Similarly, project costs can be estimated more accurately by connecting to several data resources, supplier databases, and internet sources. This will help project managers to complete their projects on budget.
We expect that project assistant roles such as project expeditors and controllers might be taken over by AI. Because these types of assistance roles depend on calculations, and estimations and do not require many soft skills.
However, 90% of a project manager’s time is spent on communication. This involves affecting stakeholders, resolving conflicts, influencing team members, convincing clients, and many similar things. Note that, all of these communication aspects differ in each project. So, it is not easy that AI can take over the roles of project managers.
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