Navigating AI: This Week's Business Highlights #7

May 09, 2024

Welcome to the AI Trailblazers Newsletter. This week, we're introducing a new section, Magnificent 7, featuring stories from Apple, Meta, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia. If you come across any compelling AI stories related to these companies that are worth sharing with the community, please feel free to send them our way.

We are also delighted to announce the AI Trailblazers Half-Day Summit, taking place on June 6th, 2024, at NeueHouse in Madison Square, New York, during Tech Week. We have an outstanding lineup of keynote speakers and panelists that will be announced shortly. Secure your seat to avoid missing this exclusive opportunity to engage in insightful discussions about the future of AI in business and to network with fellow AI trailblazers.

On Your Marks…The AI Race is On.

This must read Stanford report provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of AI and where it’s headed. Here are highlights:

  • Open Source Dominance: In 2023, there was a significant increase in the release of foundation models, with 65.7% being open-sourced, allowing for broader accessibility and modification. However, closed-source models still maintain a performance advantage across various benchmarks.

  • Industry Giants: Google emerged as the leading contributor to AI models, releasing the most foundation models compared to other industry players like OpenAI. Since 2019, Google has consistently led in this aspect, showcasing its industry's dominance in AI development.

  • Exponential Cost Increase: The exponential rise in the cost of training AI models has marginalized academia and government in the AI race. Models like Google’s Gemini Ultra and OpenAI’s GPT-4 cost millions of dollars to train, dwarfing the costs of earlier models.

  • U.S. Leadership: The United States continues to lead in AI development, producing the largest number of notable models in 2023 and dominating private investment in AI. This leadership extends to regulatory efforts, with American agencies passing significant regulations to govern AI usage.

AI Trailblazer Takeaways: With hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into AI, it’s evident that the race to lead the industry will be dominated by a select few. Their strong commitment to AI underscores their belief in its profound impact on everyone, everywhere. This potential influence has also drawn the attention of policymakers, who are racing to regulate the technology and prevent its misuse by malicious actors.

Absolut's Battle Against Bias Sparks Debate

In a bid to combat the pervasive issue of AI bias within the realm of fashion, Absolut Vodka has embarked on a groundbreaking initiative, "Absolut Intelligence." The riveting piece from Marketing Drive encapsulates the key aspects of Absolut's innovative endeavor, highlighting its significance in promoting diversity and equity within the AI landscape. Highlights below.

  • Absolut's AI Diversity Initiative: Absolut Vodka, in collaboration with Copy Lab, launched the "Absolut Intelligence" initiative to address AI bias in fashion content generation. They fed 10,000 diverse image prompts into AI datasets to promote inclusivity in AI-generated imagery.

  • Free-to-Use Inclusive Imagery: The initiative aims to train AI algorithms to produce less biased outputs by providing diverse representations of fashion, culture, and identity. Generated images are freely available on Unsplash and will feature in Copy Magazine's second edition, marking a significant step in addressing AI biases in the fashion industry.

  • Commitment to Diversity: Absolut's initiative reflects its long-standing commitment to inclusivity, with the global vice president of marketing emphasizing the brand's responsibility to confront bias in AI. Other brands, like Dove, have also taken steps to combat AI bias, signaling a broader industry trend towards promoting diversity in AI-generated content.

  • Broader Diversity Initiatives: Absolut's focus on diversity extends beyond AI, with previous initiatives like Absolut Ally aimed at LGBTQ+ allyship and cultural tie-ins such as their presence in the metaverse during events like Coachella. This holistic approach underscores Absolut's dedication to fostering inclusivity across various platforms and initiatives.

AI Trailblazer Takeaways: Absolut's efforts to combat AI bias is commendable. Their commitment to inclusive AI generated digital content and partnering with like-minded organizations highlights the importance of leadership and collaboration in the AI Era. Offering free, diverse resources and integrating inclusivity into AI large language models fosters responsible practices. By prioritizing representation, leading brands can drive a cultural shift toward ethical AI use.

AI in Teams: Strategies to Mitigate Performance Decline

The Harvard Business Review delves into a recent study conducted by Columbia Business School, shedding light on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) integration within team dynamics. The findings underscore the importance of understanding team dynamics and human preferences when navigating the integration of AI in collaborative environments.

  • AI's Impact on Team Productivity: A study by Columbia Business School reveals that despite superior individual performance, teams experience a drop in productivity when AI teammates are introduced. Teams with AI members collected 8% fewer ingredients on average, indicating a negative impact on group performance.

  • Experiment Design: Using the video game Super Mario Party's Dash and Dine, researchers assessed team dynamics and productivity in a controlled environment. The game's collaborative nature provided insights into coordination, teamwork, and AI integration within teams.

  • Understanding Performance Decline: Despite AI's individual prowess, team sociability, motivation, and trust decline when AI members are introduced. The study emphasizes the importance of considering team dynamics and human preferences when integrating AI into collaborative settings.

  • Mitigating the Spillover Effect: To counteract the negative impact of AI integration, managers should strategically pair AI with highly skilled workers. High-skilled individuals are better equipped to adapt to AI dynamics, resulting in improved team performance and collaboration.

AI Trailblazer Takeaways: Integrating artificial intelligence requires understanding emotional intelligence, cultural nuances, and team dynamics to ensure acceptance of AI co-pilots. Without this insight, resistance is likely, significantly increasing the risk of AI initiatives failing. Fostering a collaborative environment that values both human and machine contributions will be crucial in achieving successful adoption.

What is AI Trailblazers?

AI Trailblazers is a vibrant platform dedicated to uniting marketers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI). Join us for our AI Trailblazers Half-Day Summit in New York on June 6th. We launched at CES in partnership with The New York Times and hosted our members for an evening of AI programming at SXSW.

Photographs from the AI Trailblazers evening at SXSW

This platform is designed to fuel growth, innovation, and career development among its members, who all want to be at the forefront of incorporating artificial intelligence into their businesses and their lives for strategic advantage. More information here.

Quote of the Week

As someone who doesn’t understand a damn thing about AI, it has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm and I just don’t know how that plays out. Link.

- Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway