Objectives
This assignment is designed to stimulate critical thinking outside of the classroom by requiring students to write a formal academic report. You will need to follow the ARE process described in chapters 2 and 3 of Your Business Degree to analyse the assessment task, research relevant information and evaluate the information you find. This information should be used to write an academic report in which you present your findings or outcomes and make recommendations for future practice.
Assessment Task
Students are required to write an academic report as per the format outlined in chapter 5 of the textbook.
Please note that the prescribed textbook uses APA referencing guidelines.
The report is to be based on the following case study scenario about the use of Artificial Intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) includes groups of technologies that cover different fields such as machine and deep learning, predictive analytics, process automation, speech recognition, biometrics, and natural language processing. AI is seen by many businesses as the answer to increasing costs of human employment and used in a large number of industries in different ways. It has allowed the implementation of smart cities, developments in the medical sciences, special effects in movies and even the management of back-office type work. However, major concerns have been raised by many critics, some who are from the ICT fields themselves, that the use of AI must be controlled to prevent an unethical takeover by machines over humans.
You are the Head of ICT in a largelogistics organisation with over 200 staff, established around 20 years ago. Your organisation's head office is based in Sydney but it operates in various states of Australia and some countries in the Oceania region as well. Your organisation provides end to end logistics solutions to a large number of companies including warehousing, manufacturing and mining. Some of your client companies are expanding and they would like you to provide logistical solutions based on AI.
As a result, your organisation is now exploring options to expand the business in the next five years to include services based on AI. As a part of their expansion plans, the CEO of your organisation has asked you to investigate the technology and types of applications that can be used to provide services to your clients in the warehousing, manufacturing and mining industries. On the other hand, he wants to ensure that ethical limits of using AI are also observed with the use of AI. You have to complete this investigation in the next three weeks and draft a report with some recommendations for the next Executive Management meeting.
Your research and the subsequent report should cover the following tasks:
1. Definition of AI and the most up to date developments in the field that relate to logistics based solutions. This investigation must consider at least fivedifferent types of applicationsusing AI. You should investigate examples from various industries within Australia and other parts of the world. Especially investigate the current uses of AI in logistics operations that service the transport, warehousing, manufacturing and mining industries. You could also include examples from other industries. Your report must identify actual examples of uses in the current market.
2. Based on the findings from the previous section, proposethree AIbased applications your organisation could use to expand its logistics business in the next five years.As a part of this analysis, consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of the applications you have investigatedin the previous section, and the various risks (positive and negative)with respect to the solution/s you propose. When considering the potential advantages and disadvantages of the applications you have proposed, specifically explore them from an ethical, social and legal point of view. Ethics of AI in general and the specific applications you propose must be considered as a priority in this discussion.Relate this discussion to the proposed directions for your organisation.
3. Your analysis and proposed solutions in task 2 should providethree to five recommendationsat the end of your report. Make sure that the specific recommendations have been evaluatedas a part of your report discussion. The three AI applications and the ethical aspects of using AI must be considered in your recommendations. The recommendation section should directly focuson addressing the organisation's current problem.
The report should be at a strategic level. It must not consist of highly technical or operational details as some of your Executive Managers are not from an information technology background.
Please note that you will need to make some assumptions (including a name for your organisation) about the organisation in order to write this report. These assumptions should match the information in the case study and not contradict with the objectives of the report. They should be incorporated in the introduction of your report when you describe the organisationand outline the problem to be solved.Relevant assumptions should be incorporated when addressing tasks 2 and 3 above. To avoid loss of marks, do not make assumptions that are not relevant or contradictory, or will not be used in your report discussion.
Specifically your report should include the following (word count details are approximate guidelines):
1. Title page:Unit code and name, assessment number, Report title, assessment due date, word count (actual), student name, student number, CQU email address, campus lecturer/tutor, and Unit Coordinator.If applicable, add extension request ID and the new due date. Must be formatted to a standard required for a professional/business report. Check week 6 materials for example of a professionally formatted title page. Not included in the word count.
2. Executive summary:should include the purpose of the report, the problem including key issues considered andhow they were investigated, your findings, and overview of your recommendations.This part should be approximately three quarters of an A4 page but must not be longer than one (1) A4 page. Not included in the word count.
3. Table of Contents (ToC): should list the report topics using decimal notation. Need to include the main headings and subheadings with corresponding page numbers, using a format that makes the hierarchy of topics clear. Because you are including a ToC the report pages should be numbered in the footer as follows: title page has no page number; and main text to have Arabic numerals commencing at 1.Create the ToC using MS Word's ToC auto-generator rather than manually typing out the ToC.
4. Introduction:provide a brief description of the organisation as given in the case scenarioincluding any assumptions, a concise overview of the problem you have been asked to research,the main aims/purpose of the report, the objectives to be achieved by writing the report (include the tasks outlined in the case study) and how you investigatedthe problem. Provide an outline of the sections of the report.Should be approximately 250 words.
5. Body of the report (use appropriate headings in the body of the report.): Define key terms you will use in your report that are directly related to the problem and the technology considered. Then present your ideas on the topic and discuss the information you found in your research that was relevant to the report's objectives.Provide an analysis of the information that you gathered. Ensure that you explore the tasks listed in the case study scenario. In your discussion, examine the issues from a global perspective as well as from the local perspective (of the fictional organisation that is the centre of this report).
6. Conclusion:restate the purpose of the report and key issues investigated and the related findings based on your research and analysis. Explain the significance of your findingsfor addressing the problem stated in the case scenario and any limitations. State how your report has achieved its objectives and any future work to be considered.Should be approximately 250 words.
7. Recommendations:3 to 5 recommendations required. The recommendations must be based on your findings and proposed solutions discussed in the body of the report.Provide some guidelines for the organisation with respect to the future directions for your organisation based on your discussions. Format according to the Report Writing Guidelines discussed in the Unit. Should beapproximately 150 words.
Attachment:- Report Term.rar