Medical records, agricultural fields, company stocks, employee menus... Artificial intelligence (AI) permeates it all. The acronym is on the lips of all companies, but they have pending tasks – to close or improve – to make the most of it in the business and social world. This was made clear at the IA:Using your power for good conference at the IESE annual student meeting, earlier this month in Munich.
Is it worth all the fuss? "We are not going to survive as a species without it, but we have to make sure it doesn't kill us in the process," warned Nuria Oliver, co-founder of the Ellis network, a European booster for AI. "People are continually interacting with artificial intelligence, even if they don't know it," she posed. From health to shopping, “it is the most defining technology of our time, the center of the technological agenda”, launched Florian Deter, director of Microsoft. Of course, it is missing to be a superintelligent being. "The data, the power of the cloud and the availability of algorithms will be the accelerators," he detailed. A first challenge will be to demonstrate that it generates commercial value, either with productive or business improvement. From the intangible to the real, to numbers and jobs.
Regulation will be another key point. Dario Gil, director of research at IBM, called for an effort in communication about what artificial intelligence is and its applications. The better it is understood the easier it will be to apply it, he pointed out. For now, "there are strong cultural differences" between the US and the EU. “We are highlighting fear in ways that disable AI. If regulatory frameworks lean too heavily on control rather than opportunity, the potential may suffer." Find the balance between protecting the user and allowing developments. “In the US there is less fear: first it is done, then it is regulated. Asia is very open to data collection. Europe is more cautious...”, influenced Juergen Mueller, director of technology at SAP.
In addition to the regulatory race, there will be the technological one. Who will have the chip factories? Or who will access them? Its power has been seen with the lack of semiconductors, paralyzing all kinds of industries. The ideal is not to go to confrontation: “Semiconductors are the strength of AI, the fuel of all electronics. A global industry that has to continue with collaboration”, said María Marced, president of TSMC Europe. With Singapore, the US, the UK and several Europeans in the top 20, "AI cannot be just for rich countries," said Inma Martinez, industry pioneer and government adviser. In the case of China, with future geopolitical tensions it may run out of chips, Marced said.
Getting an aseptic AI, which does not magnify human biases, is also on the table. Some algorithm that was racist or sexist in automated personnel selection already made enough headlines. In the end, he learns from what we teach him. "Humans, society, must be at the center of the debate," said Gil. "If things do not work as intended, with negative consequences, actions must be taken to correct the model," Deter said in a similar vein. Doing it right pays off: “Ethics in artificial intelligence can become a competitive advantage” according to Mueller. "Trust in artificial intelligence depends on it getting it right and doing its job," Oliver added.
As in other sectors, there is a constant need for talent. "All companies are going to be technology companies," they warned from SAP. It will not be about hiring 100 data scientists at once, but about incorporating people who are prepared and, above all, creative. "Based on existing processes you have to be creative enough to know what to improve." A sea of data is a swamp if you don't know what to do with it, how to order it and take advantage of it. "It's about connecting them, not collecting them." That talent will be a serious challenge, Marced warned. It is best to prepare now. "Your daughters should study STEM (acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)," she launched.
From education there is also interest in AI. Franz Heukamp, general director of IESE, called for "exploring and facilitating possibilities." “Governments don't know how to deal with it. You have to understand where the difficulties are." Again, to make it worthwhile: "You have to get it transferred to real models, to real activity."
