In the struggle between investing in AI and holding on to legacy systems, “investing in both is investing in neither,” according to AI strategist Robert Clougherty. Clougherty says that the two systems are optimized for different things: AI systems for emergence and legacy systems for repetition. Institutions, writes the author, do not have the resources to support both. As examples, he explains how AI can be used to inform decisions related to website redesign and report writing to avoid having to recreate these projects. Clougherty suggests that institutions align AI adoption with their mission, give IT a seat at the table, encourage data literacy, and create clear AI governance policies. Doing this, he says, will turn institutions from observers to participants in the future era of learning.
