Generative AI and Tacit Knowledge - Strangers or Friends?

Today, in our Knowledge Management Global Network course on leveraging the value creation of tacit knowledge, we delved into the intersection of knowledge and tacit knowledge within Generative AI and its practical implications.

To make a long story short, Generative AI can exhibit knowledge and even deep knowledge. But can we address it as tacit knowledge? The current definitions and attributes must be updated if we want a definitive answer. 

For more details ("light" theory), check out this video.

As for the practical usage of Generative AI to leverage business value, we identified 8 categories of usage:

1. Consulting Generative AI to tap into our unconscious 

2. Embedding the usage of Generative AI in all stages of brainstorming sessions 

3. Utilizing Generative AI to synthesize content and derive new understandings, exploring known and new topics 

4. Designing Generative AI Knowledge-Driven Intelligent Agents to assist in performing KM activities that require high levels of tacit knowledge (like knowledge retention and lessons learned) 

5. Utilizing Generative AI to assist in pattern recognition 

6. Using AI in data analysis activities (both insights highlighting and visualization) 

7. Utilizing Generative AI in Social Network Analysis (SNA) 

8. Freeing up our time and attention by performing routine work, allowing us to human-leverage the value creation of tacit knowledge 

We are certainly in a new era. Those of us who are quick and intelligent enough to augment human advantages with machine ones will lead the next generation of knowledge management.