5 AI must reads for the weekend

We keep our ear to the ground for the interesting stats, insights and discussion points you need to feel in the know.

1. Moving beyond the shiny object

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has well and truly gone mainstream. “For the first time in my nearly two decades working on data and AI, I have found myself in the middle of AI discussions with other parents at school drop-off, at my annual doctor checkup and with my wife over dinner,” says Dan Diasio, EY Global Artificial Intelligence Consulting Leader. But why the sudden AI fever pitch, when the origins of AI can be traced all the way back to the 1950s? One of the reasons according to Dan, is that AI is no longer a spectator sport. “Prior to ChatGPT, AI use was primarily limited to data scientists with years of coding experience. Now, since there are no resources required to train this AI tool, students, teachers and anyone with an internet connection can leverage it.” Adding to that, Global AI startup funding reached a new record of US$66.8 billion in 2021, up 108% year over year, according to CB Insights. But the pressing question is to go beyond the shiny object: how can businesses harness the power of generative AI - and other forms - to transform? Dan tells us more...?

From the doctor’s waiting room to the boardroom, AI is everywhere. But what is your company’s AI strategy?

2. Confidence in AI is key

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) poses a dilemma. On the one hand, its transformative potential and rapid acceleration are creating an imperative for business leaders to act — and move quickly. On the other hand, uncertainty and organizational constraints are slowing uptake and dissuading many from launching major initiatives. But as?the use of AI increases across the enterprise, so will the risks and stakeholder expectations. Regulators are responding to these risks with new legislation, but AI is a fast-moving space, while legislating is, by design, consultative and slow. “Despite the growing need for robust AI regulation, it’s going to be extremely hard to achieve,” says Gordon M. Goldstein, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Television took five years to regulate, airlines took 20 years to regulate, and most estimates for AI think it will take a decade to regulate this technology.” To ensure confidence in AI, robust governance frameworks are needed. So where can businesses act now?

Five generative AI initiatives leaders should pursue now

3. How to spot problems before they start

Concerned about AI? You’re not alone. Nearly half (48%) of?respondents in a recent EY-MIIT survey of 122 business leaders, cited a lack of confidence in the trustworthiness of data as a challenge for enterprise-wide AI programs. It is becoming increasingly clear that failure to adopt governance and ethical standards that foster trust in AI will limit the ability of organizations to harness AI’s full potential. So how can you effectively assess the risk exposure of an AI initiative? Let’s start with ethics.?The AI system needs to comply with ethical and social norms, including corporate values. And this applies to designing, developing and operating AI, as well as the behavior of AI as a virtual agent. Ethics, more than any other condition, introduces considerations that have historically not been mainstream for any traditional technology, including moral behavior, respect, fairness, bias and transparency. Taking the time to assess a proposed AI initiative against ethical criteria,?can save you time in the long run - and boost vital confidence in your new AI strategy. ? ?

How do you teach AI the value of trust?

4. The stakes are high

AI is transforming a diverse range of industries. But how? From enabling smarter fleet management and optimizing energy forecasting to creating personalized consumer experiences - AI has the power to enhance operations and reshape the nature of work across any organization.?With global private sectors investing in AI, the investment levels are now 18 times higher than in 2013. But it’s not just impacting the private sector. It’s also being adopted by governments that see its ability to deliver better service to citizens at lower cost to taxpayers.?However, the risks and unintended consequences of GenAI are also real. A text-generation engine that can convincingly imitate a range of registers is open to misuse; voice-imitation software can mimic an individual’s speech patterns well enough to convince a bank, workplace or friend. Chatbots can cheat at tests. But it doesn’t stop there. AI platforms can reinforce and perpetuate historical human biases (e.g., based on gender, race or sexual orientation), undermine personal rights, compromise data security, produce misinformation and disinformation, destabilize the financial system and cause other forms of disruption globally. So, what can be done to mitigate the risks? ?

How to navigate global trends in Artificial Intelligence regulation

5. Finding the next charcoal

Many companies continue to have a limited perspective on AI, seeing it as a tool that simply alleviates the costs and inefficiencies of repetitive human labor.?But there’s far?more to it. For example, in our research and workshops with executives, we found that engagement with AI led respondents to ask different questions than they otherwise would have, 94% of the time. Kli Pappas, the director of predictive analytics at Colgate-Palmolive, shared with us that his team tapped AI to understand how charcoal became a wildly popular ingredient in consumer products, so they could “find the next charcoal.” Their algorithm generated and answered thousands of questions based on their initial search for data, sketching out a decades-long trajectory from charcoal scrubs in South Korea 20 years ago to charcoal appearing in face washes worldwide. The AI-generated data led the team to ask hundreds of less-obvious questions to spark creative thinking about future trends that may be lurking in unexpected places. Funny how looking backwards, can put you a decade or more ahead of the curve...

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