Digital Information Overload: How Leaders Can Strategically Use AI to Prevent Innovation Paralysis

Abstract

Information overload has been an academic area of inquiry for many decades. It has probably been an issue for human beings since the beginning. One can imagine information overload occurring when humans started adding mediums of communication like painting glyphs on cave walls or making impressions on clay tablets, let alone when Gutenberg invented the printing press making books ubiquitous. However, in the digital age the seemingly infinite amounts of information that the average employee is exposed to is daunting. There are literally billions of current internet users around the world, billions of people using social media everyday, and billions of people sending trillions of emails every year. It is estimated that globally several zettabytes of data are produced annually. Leaders need to have a specific policy for handling all this information or their organizations will be plagued by informational paralysis. Strategies are needed that will encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation is not only necessary to survive and thrive as an organization, but it is necessary for societal advancement. However, good policies and strategies are not solely sufficient. Leaders need to harness the very power that potentially causes information overload in order to prevent innovation paralysis. Digital information processing, more specifically “AI”, can be used effectively by leaders to overcome information overload.