in

Bridging the gap between business and IT, improving student outcomes in K-12 public schools, Tech for Execs, and more: The Daily Read weekender

Harmony Internal - McKinsey

Share this email

CURATED PICKS FOR YOUR DOWNTIME, FROM OUR EDITORS

Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

It’s finally the weekend and it’s time to unwind. Get caught up on the week’s big reads on bridging the gap between business and IT, preventing a global food crisis, the latest Tech For Execs on GPT, and more.

For IT to become a real driver of value, both business and IT must work together as partners according to McKinsey’s Oliver Bossert and Björn Münstermann.

Treat IT as strategic capability

Former Washington, DC, school chancellor Kaya Henderson talks to McKinsey’s Emma Dorn about improving enrollment and student outcomes in struggling K–12 public school systems.

Make lasting changes

Disruptions to the world’s food system are deepening the global food crisis. Check out the latest Five Fifty from McKinsey Quarterly to see how the grocery industry and consumers can help prevent a worsening scenario.

Explore the interactive

Our weekly briefing note on sustainable and inclusive growth explores racial inequities in healthcare and technology, capturing net-zero transition growth opportunities for P&C insurers, and more.

Get updated

TECH FOR EXECS

Illustration of cuboids from a three-dimensional cube are spread around it

In human terms, what’s GPT?

Welcome to Tech for Execs: quick primers on key technology concepts to get leaders up to speed.

How does GPT work? Generative Pre-trained Transformer, made famous mostly recently by GPT-3 and ChatGPT, is a type of language prediction model that is trained on large amounts of data. Ask it a question or to summarize or translate—it’ll analyze the text, use machine learning to predict the best answer, and respond like a human.

What’s the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning? The latter enables the former. AI is a machine’s ability to perform some tasks that we associate with human minds, like perceiving and problem solving. Machine learning, integral to GPT, involves algorithms trained to perform these tasks. In some cases, the algorithms can learn from their mistakes and adapt over time.

How are organizations using GPT today? Generative AI harnesses machine learning for a wide range of use cases—whether that’s a customer service response, creating code, extracting content from medical information, creating personalized product guides etc. By automating previously labor-intensive tasks, GPT can increase productivity, reduce costs, and open new areas for growth. In life sciences, the technology is already being used to accelerate drug discovery through better understanding of diseases.

What about the risks? We tend to assume computers always give us accurate answers. But GPT can get things wrong—some risks are associated with data sources which may include unhelpful biases. Others are associated with model performance and accuracy because sometimes these models confidently give the wrong answers. Some others are associated with IP and data privacy breaches. Businesses must understand these risks and carefully manage them.

Where do I start with implementing GPT? Start by identifying the parts of your business where GPT could address a business challenge. It’s a good idea to assemble a diverse team that includes data scientists, legal experts, and business leaders, both to monitor your ongoing AI efforts and to maximize their impact. To counter any AI risks, keep an expert human in the loop.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I believe if you’re doing really hard work, you should do it with people who you’re inspired by and who challenge you.”

—Kaya Henderson, CEO of Reconstruction and the former chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools, on engaging and attracting top-caliber talent in “Lessons in leadership: Transforming struggling US K–12 schools”

chart of the day

Chart of priority use cases for advanced analytics

See today’s chart

Ready to unwind?

Collection of McKinsey quarterly publications

— Edited by Joyce Yoo, editor, New York

Follow our thinking

Share these insights

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to colleagues and friends so they can subscribe too. Was this issue forwarded to you? Sign up for it and sample our 40+ other free email subscriptions here.

This email contains information about McKinsey’s research, insights, services, or events. By opening our emails or clicking on links, you agree to our use of cookies and web tracking technology. For more information on how we use and protect your information, please review our privacy policy.

You received this email because you subscribed to our McKinsey Quarterly alert list.

Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe

by "McKinsey Daily Read" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 06:13 - 31 Mar 2023

Archives

in

info@learn.odoo.com

Ever tried oat milk? US consumer habits and attitudes toward dairy are changing.

How top CEOs are navigating disruption