Knowledge Management: The Symbiotic Relationship Between AI and Humans

The potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to play a role in supporting knowledge management (KM) activities is attracting considerable interest, with AI being identified as an emerging innovative concept in KM. The authors explore three areas of opportunity for the use of AI in KM: One, the role for AI in supporting the creation, storage and retrieval, sharing, and application of knowledge; two, practical ways to build the partnership between humans and AI in supporting organizational KM activities; and three, implications for the development and management of AI systems based on the components of people, infrastructures, and processes. Knowledge production and management are inherently human-centered. The most effective roles assigned to AI in KM will support humans rather than replace them. Together AI and humans achieve a collaborative intelligence in which they enhance each other. Specialized intelligence, codification, and know-how are represented by AI, while general intelligence, collaboration, and know-why are human characteristics. Years of research indicate that for a technology deployment to be successful, there need to be accompanying organizational changes. The authors advise that the value of AI for KM lies not only in technology, but also in new infrastructures, trained people, and redesigned processes.