DAVOS, Switzerland — The prominence of generative artificial intelligence has been a focal point of both private and public conversations at the World Economic Forum, with major tech giants like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Google making a temporary takeover of local storefronts to showcase their dominance to conference attendees.
While the developments in 2023 showcased the capabilities of this technology, the focus in 2024 will shift towards enhancing the accuracy of results. This refinement aims to instill confidence among executives in critical sectors such as healthcare and manufacturing to embrace AI, as highlighted by Intel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, in an interview with CNBC.
Gelsinger emphasized the need to imbue formal correctness into the foundational models of AI in the upcoming phase. He stated, “You’ve now reached the end of today’s AI utility. This next phase of AI, I believe, will be about building formal correctness into the underlying models.”
In various industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and autonomous driving, the reliance on artificial general intelligence (AGI) for tasks such as diagnoses and quality checks necessitates a higher level of trust in the technology’s accuracy, according to Gelsinger.
Clara Shih, the CEO of Salesforce AI, proposed that the key to enhancing accuracy lies in conducting experiments and collaborative testing to drive adoption. She emphasized the importance of adjusting AI to different confidence levels as users gain trust in its reliability for critical scenarios.
Shih outlined a three-phase approach to AGI adoption, starting with using the technology as an assistive tool, progressing to monitoring it in autopilot mode for accuracy, and ultimately entrusting it to operate independently at a chosen confidence level.
Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, expressed optimism about the evolving role of AGI, viewing it as a tool that amplifies human capabilities rather than replacing jobs. Altman highlighted its potential to enhance productivity and improve job functions, emphasizing its complementary nature to human tasks.
Reflecting on the advancements in the financial sector, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman described the past year as a period of exploration and understanding the transformative potential of AI. The focus in the upcoming year will be on implementing AI to modernize outdated systems, streamline workflows, and boost efficiency across the industry.
As organizations like Nasdaq gear up for widespread AI integration, the emphasis is shifting towards practical applications and activations to leverage the technology’s benefits fully.
