Preparing for the transformations AI will bring

At the William Fry AI Summit, experts discussed how generative AI has unlocked access to AI technology, the impacts this will have on the future and tips to prepare for upcoming EU regulation.

With the recent obsession with artificial intelligence, the technology is sometimes portrayed as a new concept or recent development – but this is not the case.

At the William Fry AI Summit at the Aviva Stadium earlier this week (28 May), business representatives and experts gathered to learn more about the impact AI is having across multiple sectors. One of those experts was Dr Omar Hatamleh, the chief adviser for AI and innovation at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hatamleh told SiliconRepublic.com that AI is “nothing new” for NASA, but explained that the big change that has occurred recently is the emergence of generative AI and large language models, which has removed barriers of skill when utilising AI technology.

“That changed the narrative from people that are experts and need technical skills to be able to use these tools,” he said. “Because of that, there’s going to be an exponential use, exponential adoption across multiple elements of the organisation.”

This changed narrative has been witnessed across the tech sector, with organisations scrambling to integrate AI technology for their staff and their products. But this rapidly growing technology also brings a wave of challenges with it, which organisations will need to be aware of to use AI effectively – and safely.

Data protection and AI

The William Fry AI Summit discussed various issues around AI, such as ensuring data is protected and the shake-up the technology is causing around copyright law.

It can be difficult for organisations to know where to begin, so experts from companies such as IBM, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and OpenAI attended panels to share tips and insights around utilising AI properly.

One of these panels was moderated by Rachel Hayes, a partner in William Fry’s Technology Group. She said that a key insight shared at the event is that context is the “starting point” to understand how personal data will be used by an AI system. “That’s to understand what your obligations will be under certain legal rules like GDPR because of the use of personal data,” she said.

“The training for staff is going to be key in terms of how they use an AI system, they understand the parameters of the use, what’s OK, what’s not OK.

“Organisational measures – like policies – around the use of AI are going to be really important for businesses to start working on and implementing.”

Barry Scannell, a William Fry Technology Group partner, said it is important for organisations to remember the “key principles of responsible AI” when adopting this technology.

“So what you’d be thinking about is humans in the loop, transparency, record-keeping, risk management, having some sort of framework in place and carrying out an AI impact assessment I think are really useful first steps,” Scannell said.

Preparing for EU regulation

Organisations in Europe considering AI have no choice but to think about the AI Act, the landmark piece of EU legislation around this technology. It is arguably the most robust and detailed form of AI regulation in the world – one that may influence how other nations deal with this technology.

The legislation passed its final hurdle last week when the European Council gave it the green light to be implemented. This means the act is being published in the EU’s Official Journal and will enter into force in June 2024.

Organisations will have a couple of years to prepare for the full force of this regulation, but Scannell noted the importance of preparing sooner rather than later.

“The AI Act is going to be law by the end of June, so having that consideration and having responsible AI in place helps build trust that’s needed, especially in relation to your customers,” he said. “A lot of clients are coming to us, seeking advice and seeking help implementing AI frameworks within their organisation and seeking advice about what they should do in terms of bringing this technology into their businesses.”

The EU recently established a dedicated AI Office within the European Commission, which will play a key role in the implementation of the AI Act and will employ more than 140 staff members.

The future impact of AI

Much of the focus on the AI Summit was on the present day and the near future – how businesses can implement AI properly, legal issues that AI may cause and the impact of upcoming regulation. But Hatamleh made points about the impact this technology will have in years to come.

His view is that implementing the technology across organisations is a smaller challenge compared to the cultural change that will be needed for businesses and individuals to use this technology properly.

“Right now people say ‘Well, AI is not going to take your job but the person using AI will take your job’,” Hatamleh said. “So we’re using the AI tools [for] enhancing your capability, [they’re] going to augment your capacity. But the more advanced they become, there will be one point in which certain positions, certain functions that we do as humanity potentially will be outsourced to these intelligent systems.

“Once you start breaking these things down and show the value, then people will start jumping on board because it’s going to be one of the most transformative technologies we’ve ever seen in humanity.”

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