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India’s sophisticated Vande Bharat express project led by Mr. Sudhanshu Mani was completed in less than 18 months with just Rs. 97 crores, where the external agency has quoted Rs. 250 crores. He owes the success of this project to his team and the planning behind it. Irrespective of the project type, planning plays a crucial role in reducing risks, identifying desired goals, and ultimately delivering the agreed prototype.
According to PMI, most organizations waste an average of $97 million of the total $1 billion investment due to poor project performance. So, a project manager needs to have the ability to plan a project effectively to ensure success. While planning, the team needs to define the objectives and scope of the project, as well as determine the resources and activities needed to achieve them.
Potential Reasons for Insufficient PlanningThe old saying, “The failure to plan is planning to fail,” certainly holds true while handling a project. After all, managing a project without a clear idea of how and when to manage it is impossible. But we often notice that project managers and senior management rush this planning step in haste for project completion. Here are a few other reasons for insufficient planning −
Unrealistic expectationsThe pressure of completing the project within the timeframe compels project managers to set not-so-feasible deadlines, which can ultimately lead to timeline extension.
Jumping into execution right awayOne thing both project managers and clients want in common is the timely delivery of the product. Surrendering to impatience, most project managers gather the team and steer them toward the execution phase right after the project has been assigned. This will not only kill the result but also lead to rework.
Lack of understandingBeing unaware of the importance of the planning phase in project management, the project team starts with the sprints and ends up in a fix once the team reaches the mid-phase. So, it is always important to stay updated on the latest trends in project management and get constantly upskilled to lead any project.
How Does Careful Planning Help in a Project’s Success?Now that you know how the planning phase is usually ignored by organizations, it’s time you understand why planning plays a crucial role in a project’s success.
To put it in simple words, planning in project management and the project’s success are deeply intertwined. Planning helps to ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Here are some other key ways in which planning plays a crucial role in project management −
Identifying potential problems and risksPlanning allows project managers to anticipate potential problems and risks early on and develop strategies to mitigate them. This helps to ensure that the project stays on track and that any issues are addressed promptly.
Allocating resources effectivelyBy breaking the project into smaller, manageable tasks, project managers can ensure that resources are allocated effectively. This helps ensure the project is completed on time and within budget.
Setting clear milestones and deadlinesEfficient planning helps project managers to set clear milestones and deadlines for the project. This helps to keep the project on track and ensures that any delays or issues are addressed on time.
Managing costsA perfectly laid action plan for a project impacts budgeting and cost management. Project managers can create a detailed budget outlining the project’s costs by identifying the resources required for each task and activity. This helps to control expenses and stay within budget constraints.
Effective communication and collaborationPlanning is critical for effective communication and collaboration within the project team. By clearly defining roles and responsibilities, project managers can ensure that everyone knows their tasks and how they contribute to the overall project goals. This helps to foster a sense of accountability and teamwork, which is essential for the successful completion of the project.
Who Should Be Involved in the Planning Phase of Project Management?The planning phase is a collaborative process that should involve a diverse group of stakeholders. The following is a list of key individuals or groups that should be involved, irrespective of the project type.
Project ManagerThe project manager is responsible for leading the planning phase and ensuring that all stakeholders are involved and that the plan is comprehensive and achievable.
Project TeamThe project team is responsible for delivering the project and should be involved in the planning phase to ensure that their roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and that they have the necessary resources and support to complete their tasks.
Subject Matter ExpertsSubject matter experts are individuals or groups with specialized knowledge or skills that are relevant to the project. They should be involved in the planning phase to ensure that the project objectives and scope align with the organization’s needs.
StakeholdersStakeholders are individuals or groups affected by the project and should be involved in the planning phase, ensuring their needs and expectations are considered. When we say stakeholders, you may include customers, clients, end-users, and other groups with a vested interest in the project.
Senior ManagementSenior management should be involved in the planning phase to provide guidance, support, and oversight for the project. They should also be informed of potential risks or challenges arising during the project.
What Should Be Covered in the Planning Phase of a Project?When we say planning is important for any project, you also need to know the way of planning. It means you must steer through the right pathway to reach the right destination. Here are a few things you must definitely include in your planning strategy.
IntegrationA project management plan must be developed by considering the organizational process assets. This means the project manager takes individual planning inputs from each knowledge area and integrates them to create a working strategy.
Defining the scopeOnce the inputs are taken from each stakeholder, the next step is to define the scope and then create a breakdown structure.
Managing the stakeholdersHere, project managers collect requirements from stakeholders regarding the project’s goal and try to balance their expectations on reaching the goal.
Time ScheduleThe next step is to decide on the resources and the work durations. Once this is decided, you can develop a proper schedule in a sequence.
Cost managementOnce the resources and time allocation is done, it is time to estimate and come up with the budget for the entire project while considering the contingencies.
Managing risksOnce you’re done with drafting the final schedule, you need to look out for identifying risks and drafting a mitigation plan. You must work on qualitative and quantitative risks that may arise during the project cycle.
ConclusionIn a nutshell, a project manager plays a key role in the planning for a project’s success. He/she needs to be alert in making a viable plan as the project execution relies on this planning. So, take some time, slow things down, and plan for all aspects of the project – risks, costs, resources, deliverables, milestones, and other considerations.
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What Is Project Quality Management? Why Is It Important?
blog / Project Management What is Project Quality Management? How Does it Boost Customer Satisfaction?
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For anyone facing challenges in meeting project specifications or delivering quality projects, look no further than auto major Toyota for inspiration. Right from the development stage to the production line, the Japanese company uses a systematic approach to ensure every aspect of its projects meets the highest standard. Essentially, this has helped it gain an unassailable reputation in the automotive industry for delivering reliable and high-quality vehicles. You too can achieve similar results by following Toyota’s Project Quality Management (PQM) mantra. Let’s dig deeper into this management approach.
Project Quality ManagementIt is an integrated framework of any organization’s total quality management process. The management of quality comprises processes required to deliver a project on time while ensuring that the demands of the stakeholders, including customers, are met. Moreover, it is the ability to manage a product and deliver output in conformity with the requirements of the users while maximizing profits for the company.
Project quality management combines two frameworks: quality management and project management. For instance, let’s take the example of a multimedia tech company that is working on a new high-quality software application. Now, to ensure that it meets customer expectations and delivers value, there are two aspects that the project management team needs to look into. First, it has to ensure that there are no functionality defects in the software (this is referred to as quality management). Next, it must ensure that the new software is equipped with the latest features that are in demand in the market so that the company can generate more revenue (this is referred to as project management).
ALSO READ: What is Project Management and How to Become a Successful PM
Importance of Project Quality Management Better Decision MakingPQM provides relevant data to an organization and enables it to make strategic decisions by identifying quality requirements. This helps generate revenue.
Enhanced ManagementPQM promotes a culture of continuous improvement, leading to increased job satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment among the team members. It facilitates the seamless implementation of management processes.
Enhances Brand ReputationPQM can help an organization establish a reputation for delivering high-quality products and services, leading to increased business opportunities and a stronger brand.
Project Quality Management Processes Quality Management PlanningIt sets quality standards and objectives for the project and determines how these standards will be met. In addition, it includes identifying the processes, tools, and techniques to manage and monitor project quality.
Perform Quality AssurancePQM ensures that the project is executed by the quality plan. Additionally, this includes activities such as regular quality audits and inspections, as well as continuous monitoring of project performance.
Control QualityIt monitors and controls the quality of project outputs, including products, services, and deliverables. Moreover, this is done by testing, inspections, and verifying the project requirements have been met.
Key Elements of Project Quality Management
Customer Satisfaction:
The primary goal of PQM is to ensure that a project meets or exceeds customer requirements and expectations, with customer satisfaction being the best way to assess this. Thus, customer satisfaction is a core element of quality management.
Prevention Over Inspection:
Inspection-based quality control focuses on detecting and correcting defects after they have occurred. In essence, this approach is reactive and can be costly and time-consuming. PQM enables organizations to take proactive measures to prevent defects, improve quality, and achieve better project outcomes.
Continuous Improvement
: In PQM, continuous improvement is viewed as an essential component of achieving high levels of customer satisfaction. Moreover, increasing project efficiency and reducing the cost of quality are also considered vital.
Benefits of a Project Quality Management PlanA project quality management plan offers the following benefits throughout the PQM lifecycle:
Improved Customer SatisfactionIn a PQM plan, customers’ needs and expectations are clearly defined. Moreover, the organization focuses on achieving these needs. This increases customer satisfaction and a better overall perception of the project and the organization.
Enhanced Project Performance Better Resource UtilizationPQM provides a framework for monitoring and controlling the use of resources. Thus, it results in more efficient use of time, money, and human resources.
Increased Stakeholder Confidence Project Quality Management Tools and TechniquesThere are different types of tools and techniques to aid this process.
Project Quality Management (PQM) Tools
Cost of Quality (COQ) Analysis:
It calculates the cost of poor quality, including the cost of prevention, appraisal, and internal and external failure
Statistical Process Control (SPC):
This is a set of statistical methods used to monitor and control a process to ensure it is operating within defined limits
Control Charts:
This is a statistical tool used to monitor a process to determine if it is in control, and identifies any special cause variations
Pareto Charts:
These are graphical representations showing which factors are contributing the most to a problem or issue
Flowchart
: It represents a process or workflow, used for identifying potential bottlenecks or areas for improvement
Project Quality Management Techniques
Continuous Improvement:
This is a systematic approach that identifies and implements improvements in a process or product
Quality Audits
: This is an independent review of a process or product to assess its compliance with quality standards
Design of Experiments (DOE):
DOE is a statistical method used to determine the effect of different variables on a process or product
Lean Methodology:
This is a management approach that seeks to optimize the flow of work by eliminating waste and improving efficiency
Phases of Project Quality ManagementThere are three dimensions or levels of project quality management. The first involves meeting the specified requirements and is called quality control. Then, the next is quality management; which focuses on working beyond the specified requirements. Finally, the last level is known as total quality management. In essence, it focuses on constant improvement to enhance customer satisfaction.
The following are the five essential phases of project quality management:
Project Quality Initiation
: The project quality management framework starts with identifying a potential project and seeking authorization to initiate it. Here, a project manager is appointed who selects the core team and identifies potential risks involved in the project.
Project Quality Planning
: Now, all stakeholders are informed about the project and their approval and inputs are received. The project management team starts preparing an action plan to complete the project. This step requires market research to understand customer requirements and gather data on ongoing market trends. In addition, the team identifies customer satisfaction standards and suppliers.
Project Quality Assurance
: In the next stage, the project management team focuses on improving the processes to provide quality deliverables. It involves communicating with external stakeholders to overcome obstacles. The team gathers data, identifies the root cause of defects, and conducts quality audits
Project Quality Control:
In the quality control phase, the project management team analyzes customer satisfaction levels and focuses on improving processes. This stage mainly involves running various tests and correcting errors to ensure the best quality.
Project Quality Closure:
Lastly, the team delivers the final project to the customers, who accept the project and are satisfied. In fact, this phase also involves providing support and training to the customers, assessing the overall project to improve the processes, and acknowledging and rewarding various members of the project management team.
A Career in Project Quality ManagementYou will need to know the following if you are planning to build a career in project quality management:
Quality management methodologies, such as Six Sigma or Lean
Quality tools and techniques, such as statistical process control and root cause analysis
Quality standards and regulations, such as ISO 9001 or CMMI
Project management methodologies, such as Agile or Waterfall
Quality metrics and measurement techniques
Quality management software and systems
Risk management and mitigation strategies
Due to intense competition in the market and rapidly changing market conditions, project quality management has become an integral part of the project management framework. Hence, at Emeritus, we have online project management courses that can help you acquire such relevant skills to accelerate your career.
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What Is Project Cycle Management?
help of project management principles. The main purpose of the project management cycle is to ensure there is a minimal error in the end product and that the process is aligned with the stakeholder’s expectations. Each project has a lifecycle, marking the project’s beginning and completion. There are several things that go into the project lifecycle.
The phases include project planning, project execution, and closure. These phases are further divided into several stages, and each requires a different set of tools. The goal is to divide large projects into small tasks that are manageable and can be monitored effortlessly. This makes it easy for the managers and the workforce to stay on budget and timeline. It also allows you to follow the instructions closely.
What is Project Cycle Management?PCM was developed by experts who saw the need for an accurate method to finish the project. This was much-needed because people used to copy the project management methods implemented by other organizations, which was considered extremely inappropriate for all the right reasons. The methodology was adopted in 1992 by the European Commission, but its success made it popular worldwide.
As mentioned above, the main purpose of project cycle management is to align the project phases with the stakeholder’s expectations and to address all sorts of challenges that might arise throughout the PCM phases. These are divided into six phases — programming, identification, formulation, financing, implementation, and evaluation. People might use different names for each phase, and the process is also tweaked to deal with various organizational problems. Some entities only implement five steps instead of six. The main goal is to streamline project management and decision-making.
How Does Project Cycle Management Work?PCM is implemented to improve the lifecycle of a project and ensure better results. As mentioned above, the project is broken down into various phases. It works like a chapter of a book. You have to proceed with another chapter only after finishing the current one. This way, it’s easier to pay attention to each phase of the project and ensure that the quality standards are met. It also ensures that your project is completed following the stakeholder’s instructions. Simply put, project cycle management is designed to help people accomplish any project within the given timeline without compromising on quality.
Once you have finished the first phase, you can move on to the other one. PCM consists of several components, including identifying risk factors, transparency, expectations, and the project’s structure. Many organizations that have implemented the PCM have reported better and improved outcomes, organized procedures, and satisfied end-users.
Why Implement Project Cycle Management?Handling a large project, especially the complex one, seems pretty difficult. Many professionals have mentioned their concerns about finishing the project in a timely manner and with accuracy. Completing a given project seems even more overwhelming when you have a history of similar projects that were left unfinished.
Here are the three important reasons why more and more businesses are considering project cycle management.
Simplicity − Ask any project manager about working on a complex project, and they will most likely tell you simplicity is what they need to handle every project seamlessly. To achieve that simplicity, people implement the project management cycle. It’s an easy and effective way to ensure that your project seems simple and achievable. Not only for the leaders but a project is broken down into several phases is easier to finish for the workforce.
Better Productivity − It’s not possible to manage a project without managing time. No matter how complex or simple the project is, everything comes down to how effectively you manage time and resources. Once you have implemented PCM, your team gets a clear picture of how to execute each phase, how much time they must dedicate to each process, and how to ensure productivity. A task that seems overwhelming at first glance quickly turns into “we can achieve it” when there are smaller steps to perform each day instead of finishing one large and complex project in a given timeframe. PCM improves employees’ morale while ultimately boosting their productivity.
Transparency − One of the biggest benefits of PCM is transparency, which also happens to be the major challenge in achieving success in any project. Communication is quite difficult when it comes to complex projects. That’s what the PCM helps to resolve. The leader or manager communicates each phase clearly to the workforce, explaining every aspect of the project concisely. Even if they don’t explain everything verbally, the phases are quite easy to interpret. Once the project details are explained well, the goals can be achieved easily.
Main Phases of a Project Cycle ManagementProjects become complex when you are working with a team, have a strict deadline to achieve, and are faced with economic challenges. PCM doesn’t guarantee success, but it makes your project manageable by breaking down a large project into smaller and achievable steps. Here
Planning − A strong plan is something that minimizes the risks in the project and guides the workforce toward success.
Execution − This is where all the hard work is done. Execution refers to bringing all ideas into reality by working on each phase established during the planning phase. Everything is already clarified in detail, and you only need to execute those steps.
Monitoring − Not everything will go as you have planned. It’s better if it does, but if not, you must have a backup plan ready to ensure your goals are met within the established timeframe.
Closure − Once the execution and monitoring are over, the final product is delivered to the client. Closure of the project is the final step, where you get feedback from the end user. Based on that, you decide whether you need to make improvements.
Why Your Business Should Consider Construction Project Management Software
Construction project management software are handy tools that can help you manage your entire project efficiently. An effective project management tool that is ideal for your project since it is packed with endless benefits. It offers an array of features that help you manage your entire project without any worry.
What is construction management software?
Construction management software is a tool that helps you plan, coordinate and control your construction. It is useful for the entire construction project management team from the project manager to contractors, building owners to remodelers.
The best construction project management software meets the needs of various kinds of projects such as heavy civil, commercial, residential, industrial, etc. These tools can also be customized to suit your particular needs.
Some software runs on PC while others are meant for mobile devices. You can also find cloud-based construction project management software. The kind of software you should look for depends on your needs.
Benefits of Construction Project Management Software Improved communicationOne of the major benefits of construction management software is that they help you communicate with your team members in a better way. These tools will allow you to collaborate better and this way you will be able to improve the overall work efficiency.
Also read: 10 Business-Critical Digital Marketing Trends For 2023
Document sharingSharing documents can be made very easy with the help of a construction project among team members and other stakeholders. With the help of a good tool, you can have access to such information as specifications, blueprints, wireframes, etc. and easily share it with anyone you want.
The best construction project management software will offer a proper document management system. By having a centralized document control system you will also have other benefits. It will not only make the process of sharing smooth but also help you improve decision-making. You will get to use features such as data storage, and reporting as well.
Budget management Resources managementAlso read: Top 10 Trending Technologies You should know about it for Future Days
Choosing a construction project management softwareWhile looking for construction project management software you need to make sure you look for the best option. A tool that offers the best features and is also within your budget can be a good choice. However, you must establish your need first before you look for a tool so that you can make a well-informed decision.
Why Is Team Training Important In Finance?
Why is Team Training Important in Finance?
Build a highly capable financial workforce
Written by
CFI Team
Published February 11, 2023
Updated June 28, 2023
Although technology is rapidly changing how organizations do business, finance professionals continue to play a critical role. While you should certainly invest in technology, you also need to focus on building an expert financial workforce.
Embracing training for financial professionals is one of the best ways to accomplish that goal. The development of financial skills directly affects your organization’s profitability and, ultimately, its sustainability. Group training, rather than mandated individual training, is a demonstrably better approach to skill development.
Organizational Improvement through Finance Skill DevelopmentYou cannot underestimate the role finance can play in improving the efficiency of human resources, sales, marketing, information technology, and other organizational functions. Your finance professionals should be at the core of your operations by working with data from all aspects of your business. Consider it a holistic approach to success.
For example, the sales and marketing departments may prefer a certain marketing strategy because it brings them more prospective customers and healthy commissions. Your finance team should adopt a broader perspective; perhaps, choosing instead to recommend pursuing clients with a higher customer lifetime value and better retention rates.
Your financial department can make significant improvements throughout the entire business by making informed decisions about the supply chain, capital investments, business location, information technology, recruitment, and training.
Financial Skills TrainingHow finance professionals contribute to the success of an organization may vary depending on the business model you employ and the industry in which your firm operates. One factor stays constant: your employees need the training to improve financial skills.
Many finance specialists possess qualifications from respected institutions. The practical value of their training varies, with some students learning the theory without grasping the practice. A degree or degrees do not ensure that your employees can perform to the best of their ability. That’s why additional training from organizations like CFI is so important.
Factors in Finance Team SuccessWhen you assemble a finance team, you may look for a solid college or university background. But you also look at other factors and ways to maximize your department’s assets. They include:
Raw talent Educational ROIObviously, you will need to invest capital in this additional training. To get your company to literally buy into this mission means you will have to justify the cost by explaining the value. Fortunately, the cold hard facts are on your side.
A randomized control study involving 852 firms sought to determine the impact of finance skill training, along with marketing skill training, on business performance. The study was conducted in South Africa, an emerging market with access to global markets and state-of-the-art technologies. It’s also a market that faces various domestic and international pressures.
The research paper gathered data from a diverse portfolio of businesses of different sizes and in different market conditions. The study found that both marketing and top finance skills improve your team as a whole and result in increased profitability.
Cost reduction strategiesA business can increase its earnings by improving overall sales or by increasing its efficiency and effectiveness by reducing costs and expenses. The researchers found that the group trained in marketing focused on growth, concentrating on higher sales, improvements in inventory, and hiring more employees. This is a valid approach, but not all firms can adopt it.
Some markets are saturated or dominated by large firms. There may be room to expand sales, but it is likely to be limited. That’s why your finance department needs to be trained in price reduction strategy. This path is demonstrably effective in a digital and price-sensitive global marketplace.
A group trained in skills such as data analysis, Excel, and Tableau focuses on efficiency, a strategy that results in significantly lower costs. Several factors influence the success and sustainability of this strategy, which targets the effectiveness of the people within the organization as well as its processes and supply chain management.
Your competitors will have limited access to the details of your new strategy, but the results will be clear on your bottom line. Changes driven by professionals within the firm are often a sustainable path to better business performance — more so than increased marketing efforts.
Train Your Team and Improve Finance SkillsThe success or failure of your training push depends in part on the approach you take. You may choose to require the finance professionals within your company to gain a certain qualification by a specified deadline. However, that approach may feel disjointed.
Your team is likely to complete training at a different pace and during different periods, which will limit their ability to collaborate during crucial financial periods. An awkward start may also sour management on this training investment.
A more effective approach is training in teams, which allows an organization to ensure that its employees receive the same quality of training in stable and optimally sized teams. A publication in the Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society noted that this approach enhances the effectiveness of training interventions.
In addition, the researchers found that this training enhances cognitive outcomes, affective outcomes, collaborative processes, and performance outcomes. Training in this way is simply more effective in many ways.
It is worth noting in this new age of remote work and collaboration that training should tap into learning innovations. Finance specialists need to upskill or re-skill while staying current with their traditional finance responsibilities. Scheduling on-site training would probably be costlier and would require more time investment.
Business plans tailored to finance upskilling can include online instruction suitable for all types of firms. These plans can include team training for Wall Street professionals, finance departments in industry-leading firms, and businesses in developing markets.
You will also need to quantify the results to keep this training on your company’s radar. Ideally, measuring this training should include individual and group progress tracking to ensure compliance and skills gap assessments to identify employees’ knowledge. You will be able to identify competency gaps and gain real-time insights into students’ progress, outcomes, and areas for additional training.
Additional ResourcesLearning as Part of Organizational Culture
Why Online Training for Finance Teams Makes Sense
Employee Development in Finance
See all team development resources
What Is Generative Ai And Why Is It Important?
Definition: What is Generative AI?As the name suggests, Generative AI means a type of AI technology that can generate new content based on the data it has been trained on. It can generate texts, images, audio, videos, and synthetic data. Generative AI can produce a wide range of outputs based on user input or what we call “prompts“. Generative AI is basically a subfield of machine learning that can create new data from a given dataset.
If the model has been trained on large volumes of text, it can produce new combinations of natural-sounding texts. The larger the data, the better will be the output. If the dataset has been cleaned prior to training, you are likely to get a nuanced response.
OpenAI Playground
Similarly, if you have trained a model with a large corpus of images with image tagging, captions, and lots of visual examples, the AI model can learn from these examples and perform image classification and generation. This sophisticated system of AI programmed to learn from examples is called a neural network.
At present, GPT models have gotten popular after the release of GPT-4/3.5 (ChatGPT), PaLM 2 (Google Bard), GPT-3 (DALL – E), LLaMA (Meta), Stable Diffusion, and others. All of these user-friendly AI interfaces are built on the Transformer architecture. So in this explainer, we are going to mainly focus on Generative AI and GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer).
What Are the Different Types of Generative AI Models?Amongst all the Generative AI models, GPT is favored by many, but let’s start with GAN (Generative Adversarial Network). In this architecture, two parallel networks are trained, of which one is used to generate content (called generator) and the other one evaluates the generated content (called discriminator).
Basically, the aim is to pit two neural networks against each other to produce results that mirror real data. GAN-based models have been mostly used for image-generation tasks.
GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) / Source: Google
Next up, we have the Variational Autoencoder (VAE), which involves the process of encoding, learning, decoding, and generating content. For example, if you have an image of a dog, it describes the scene like color, size, ears, and more, and then learns what kind of characteristics a dog has. After that, it recreates a rough image using key points giving a simplified image. Finally, it generates the final image after adding more variety and nuances.
What Is a Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) ModelGoogle subsequently released the BERT model (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) in 2023 implementing the Transformer architecture. At the same time, OpenAI released its first GPT-1 model based on the Transformer architecture.
Source: Marxav / commons.wikimedia.org
So what was the key ingredient in the Transformer architecture that made it a favorite for Generative AI? As the paper is rightly titled, it introduced self-attention, which was missing in earlier neural network architectures. What this means is that it basically predicts the next word in a sentence using a method called Transformer. It pays close attention to neighboring words to understand the context and establish a relationship between words.
Through this process, the Transformer develops a reasonable understanding of the language and uses this knowledge to predict the next word reliably. This whole process is called the Attention mechanism. That said, keep in mind that LLMs are contemptuously called Stochastic Parrots (Bender, Gebru, et al., 2023) because the model is simply mimicking random words based on probabilistic decisions and patterns it has learned. It does not determine the next word based on logic and does not have any genuine understanding of the text.
How Google and OpenAI Approach Generative AI?Both Google and OpenAI are using Transformer-based models in Google Bard and ChatGPT, respectively. However, there are some key differences in the approach. Google’s latest PaLM 2 model uses a bidirectional encoder (self-attention mechanism and a feed-forward neural network), which means it weighs in all surrounding words. It essentially tries to understand the context of the sentence and then generates all words at once. Google’s approach is to essentially predict the missing words in a given context.
Google Bard
In contrast, OpenAI’s ChatGPT leverages the Transformer architecture to predict the next word in a sequence – from left to right. It’s a unidirectional model designed to generate coherent sentences. It continues the prediction until it has generated a complete sentence or a paragraph. Perhaps, that’s the reason Google Bard is able to generate texts much faster than ChatGPT. Nevertheless, both models rely on the Transformer architecture at their core to offer Generative AI frontends.
Applications of Generative AIWe all know that Generative AI has a huge application not just for text, but also for images, videos, audio generation, and much more. AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing Chat, etc. leverage Generative AI. It can also be used for autocomplete, text summarization, virtual assistant, translation, etc. To generate music, we have seen examples like Google MusicLM and recently Meta released MusicGen for music generation.
ChatGPT
Apart from that, from DALL-E 2 to Stable Diffusion, all use Generative AI to create realistic images from text descriptions. In video generation too, Runway’s Gen-1, StyleGAN 2, and BigGAN models rely on Generative Adversarial Networks to generate lifelike videos. Further, Generative AI has applications in 3D model generations and some of the popular models are DeepFashion and ShapeNet.
Limitations of Generative AIWhile Generative AI has immense capabilities, it’s not without any failings. First off, it requires a large corpus of data to train a model. For many small startups, high-quality data might not be readily available. We have already seen companies such as Reddit, Stack Overflow, and Twitter closing access to their data or charging high fees for the access. Recently, The Internet Archive reported that its website had become inaccessible for an hour because some AI startup started hammering its website for training data.
Apart from that, Generative AI models have also been heavily criticized for lack of control and bias. AI models trained on skewed data from the internet can overrepresent a section of the community. We have seen how AI photo generators mostly render images in lighter skin tones. Then, there is a huge issue of deepfake video and image generation using Generative AI models. As earlier stated, Generative AI models do not understand the meaning or impact of their words and usually mimic output based on the data it has been trained on.
It’s highly likely that despite best efforts and alignment, misinformation, deepfake generation, jailbreaking, and sophisticated phishing attempts using its persuasive natural language capability, companies will have a hard time taming Generative AI’s limitations.
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