Thoughts and Key Takeaways After 1.5 Years Using AI in Problem Solving

In 2023, we began experimenting with over 40 AI tools. Initially, we used AI to simulate some innovation workshops we had previously conducted with clients to compare the results.
Since then, we’ve applied AI in a variety of contexts: working on all kind of challenges (de processes, HR. communication, product and service development…) in very different sectors (pharmaceutical, food, bank, cosmetics…).
Through these experiences, we’ve drawn some very clear conclusions:

1. AI Delivers Outstanding Value to creative problem solving

AI not only accelerates the innovation process but also leads to more disruptive ideas, helps develop stronger value propositions, and facilitates the transition from ideas to implementation. It allows teams to move faster while pushing the boundaries of creativity.

2. The Key is Prompt Engineering

The real potential of AI in innovation is only unlocked when it is combined skillfully with human insight. You can’t simply input a challenge into ChatGPT or Co-pilot and expect valuable solutions to pop up. The magic happens when we carefully craft the instructions we give to these AI tools, what we call Innovative Prompt Engineering when looking for innovative solutions to a challenge.

To support this, we’ve recently developed the AInno Kit, a set of over 100 prompts specifically designed for each phase of the innovation process.
AI brings value to every stage:

. Exploring and reframing the Challenge: AI helps us better explore the problem and uncover novel questions that lead to uncharted paths.

. Generating Ideas: AI expands the range of creative possibilities and helps us think more disruptively.

. Conceptualizing: AI shines when transforming ideas into well-developed, actionable concepts.

. Experimenting: AI allows us to define fast, low-cost pilots (PREtotypes) to test and improve ideas.

. Pitching: AI helps enhance presentations, making pitches more compelling and effective.

3. The Perfect Formula: AI + Human Experts

When that human is an expert in the specific field being worked on, the benefits become exponential. For instance, our 20 years of innovation experience enable us to create better prompts to look for new solutions, guiding AI to apply proven innovation methodologies effectively.

By leveraging a repository of prompts crafted by specialists, we can fully tap into their knowledge and experience without needing them in the room.

4. The Role of Humans Shifts to More Strategic Tasks

AI will take over tasks that we’ve been performing for years, particularly time-consuming ones. For example, AI can accomplish in 10 minutes what might take hours in a traditional brainstorming session, often with similar or better results—assuming we use the right prompts. This frees up humans to focus on more strategic tasks, such as refining AI-generated content, deciding what’s relevant, and steering the process by iterating and re-asking questions.

5. It’s Too Early to Commit to Any One Tool

Everything in AI is evolving rapidly, and it doesn’t make sense to become overly specialized in one tool. Instead, it’s more valuable to master the underlying philosophy, which is consistent across most tools.

A few insights as of now:

. Gemini tends to deliver better results than ChatGPT or Co-pilot when exploring a problem, It’s more adept at finding concrete examples and spotting what’s happening around the world on a given challenge.
. Perplexity also performs well in this phase, offering useful references and sources it draws from.

. When it comes to generating new questions or ideas, ChatGPT still delivers more creative responses-

Conclusion:

The potential of AI in the innovation process becomes increasingly clear. However, it’s not just about adopting the latest tool—it’s about learning how to work with AI, integrating it into existing processes, and continuously refining the way we interact with it through prompt engineering. Success will come to those who can balance the power of AI with expertise of human insight (helped by experts), fostering a collaboration where each complements the other’s strengths.