Digital Leaders AI Pulse Issue #6

Welcome to the latest edition of The AI Pulse for Digital Leaders. A curated collection of essential articles, commentaries, and news stories from reputable sources.

Highlights in this edition include:

• US government issue a new memo outlining its strategy for AI

• Can AI be the key to unlocking leadership opportunities for women?

• A new “AI Hype Index” helps you determine the AI hype from reality

AI for Good

A group of companies, researchers and institutions have issued an open letter stating that Europe needs regulatory certainty on AI. It argues that in the absence of consistent rules, the EU is going to miss out on two cornerstones of AI innovation: Open models and Multimodal models.

The rapid advances in GenAI have led to concerns about potential harms, such as the spread of misinformation and the generation of harmful content. The US Government Audit Office (GAO) has explored the approaches being used by commercial companies to ensure responsible development and deployment of GenAI. They conclude that while developers are implementing measures to mitigate these risks, limitations in testing methods remain.

The Whitehouse has issued a memorandum on advancing the United States’ leadership in AI. It discusses the need for the United States to lead the world in the responsible application of AI to national security functions. It also discusses the need to protect human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, privacy, and safety in AI-enabled national security activities.

Bias and Ethics

While many worry that GenAI is perpetuating existing bias and discrimination, this essay by Lorena Goldsmith (winner of the FT’s 12th annual essay competition) published in the Financial Times, argues that AI can be the key to unlocking leadership opportunities for women.

The legal field faces challenges in providing access to justice due to financial constraints, legal complexity, language barriers, and lack of legal knowledge. This article from the Society for Computers and Law examines how policies and organisations may need to adapt if GenAI is to be used to improve access to justice.

The Australian government has issued 2 very useful document on AI. The first is guidance on privacy and the development and training of generative AI models. The second is guidance on privacy and the use of commercially available AI products.

Cyber Security

The ease of access to GenAI tools is causing a major concern: Shadow AI. This article from Cybersecurity Insiders considers how unauthorized use of AI tools within organizations, often by well-intentioned employees, can lead to serious data security risks, compliance violations, and operational inefficiencies.

The Guardian reports that the UK Government plans to allow AI companies to use online content without explicit permission from creators have sparked widespread opposition from publishers, including the BBC. Concerns are growing that the government is favouring tech giants over content creators, leading to a potential policy showdown.

Data & Decision Making

The Scottish Government's Digital Directorate has unveiled a draft vision for public sector data, seeking public input for its further development. This vision aims to harness data for innovation and public well-being. While specific projects or policies aren't detailed, the document outlines five key ambitions for the future of public sector data.

An interesting discussion in Forbes on how to use synthetic data to bootstrap AI models.

TechCrunch reports that the UK government is planning to reform data protection rules with the aim of boosting the economy.

Innovation & Collaboration

UK Authority reports that the UK public sector will benefit from cost savings on Microsoft's AI products and services, including Microsoft Copilot, through a new five-year agreement with the Crown Commercial Service. This deal aims to help public sector organizations integrate generative AI into Microsoft's productivity apps.

With so much going on in AI, how to separate the hype from reality? MIT Technology Review introduces the “AI Hype Index”. It is a simple, at-a-glance summary of everything you need to know about the state of the industry.

Productivity & Efficiency

The Register reports that the ROI on AI projects is low, and dropping. This based on a “state of AI” report from Appen, an AI data services company, working with The Harris Poll. It queried 500 IT decision-makers across various US industries and found that both the success rate and ROI of AI projects is declining. Appen attributes this decline to a shortage of high-quality, human-labelled training data.

To truly reap AI benefits, executives need an understanding of how AI systems operate and what they do well. According to MIT Sloan News, here are 6 ways executives can gain a handle on AI and stay ahead of the curve.

A new tool called Turo from QuantumBlack Labs, an R&D lab that is part of McKinsey, provides performance management for AI, both for generative AI and traditional machine learning projects.

The Evident AI Index offers a comprehensive assessment of AI adoption and maturity within the top 50 global banks. By analyzing millions of data points across four key pillars (Talent, Innovation, Leadership, and Transparency), the Index provides a detailed snapshot of the current state of AI in the banking sector.

Regulation and Compliance

An essay in the Yale Journal of Law & Technology considers the limitations and loopholes in the EU AI Act and AI Liability Directives. It concludes that the strong lobbying efforts of big tech companies and member states were unfortunately able to water down much of this legislation. The author believes this has resulted in an overreliance on self-regulation, self-certification, weak oversight and investigatory mechanisms.

Sustainability

AI's rapid growth is fuelling a surge in data center demand and reshaping the power market landscape. A new McKinsey report states that European data center demand is projected to triple by 2030, and looks at the investment issues and the challenges this brings for sustainability, decarbonization, and energy management.

The Consumer Goods and Retail (CG&R) industry recognises the need to move from a linear to a circular economy to reduce its environmental impact. This report from KPMG looks at how technology such as AI can help and examines the industry's progress in six key areas, identifies best practices, and recommends ways to accelerate the shift towards circularity.

User Experience

Customer services is an area where user experience in often ranked very low. Now it is an area where AI adoption is surging. The Economist asks “Can AI save customer service?”.

An editorial in CMS Wire considers how AI is changing user experience design. It concludes that AI can enhance design, accelerate research, and improve trust.

Workforce & Skills

To maximize the business value of AI, teams require a diverse range of skills and roles, from data scientists and domain experts, to strategic decision-makers. CIO Magazine defines the 11 key roles for AI success.

A Sloan Management Review case study looks at how USAA, a 102 year old financial services company, has adopted AI and the challenges it faced.