AI takes center-stage at the 2024 KTech PULSE Summit
For the past several years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic for Knoxville's cutting-edge companies.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is commanding the next era,” said Dr. Mik Bertolli, a Board Member and Chief Science Officer of Avrio Analytics. The company is comprised of industry-leading data scientists who develop technology tools and act as tech consultants for other agencies and organizations.
He was the keynote speaker for the 2024 KTech PULSE Summit, which is an annual celebration and showcase of the innovative work of entrepreneurs and organizations in East Tennessee. The summit is hosted by the Knoxville Technology Council. In the teknovation.biz Weekend Edition, we featured four established companies in the local area using cutting-edge technology.
For Bertolli’s keynote presentation, he ran through the history of AI – how it existed for a long time, but wasn’t necessarily embraced by the public until around 2020. Even then, it wasn’t something people used every day. When OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT in November of 2022, it took the world by storm.
“We saw this major shift in AI technologies where GPTs made AI more conversational,” Bertolli said. “Suddenly, the interaction rate with this tech skyrocketed because it was speaking in a language that people could understand.”
Bertolli unpacked two types of AI – the generative side, which produces creative products like writing suggestions, photo creation, and code creation – and the non-generative side, which reviews data, draws conclusions, tracks patterns, and creates parallels that we may not see with the human eye.
Specifically, Bertolli discussed diffusion models of generative AI, which he calls “the new kids on the block.” This sector of artificial intelligence exists to create realistic data by adding noise to existing data and then learning to reverse the process. This machine learning model can be used to generate images, audio, and coherent text sequences.
“GPT has been around a long time, but now these diffusion models put a face to it, made it talk, and suddenly everyone thinks AI just showed up to the party,” he said.
While this type of AI can be used for bad purposes like deep fakes, impersonation, and phishing, Bertolli also said it can do a lot of good.
“How many people in this room regularly use chat GPT,” he asked. Nearly every hand went up. “It provides a value for people, and there’s no denying that.”
After Bertolli’s keynote address about embracing the new wave of technology, KTech welcomed a panel of experts to the stage. Amir Sadovnik, the Research Lead for the Center for AI Security Research (CAISER) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory moderated the panel, which included Bertolli; John Derrick, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Authentrics.ai; Andrew Gunter, the Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel of Cential AI; and Leslie McGuirk, the Vice President of Financial Compliance, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Sadovnik started by asking about the emergence of AI companies, and how each of the individuals perceive those to be a threat or asset to their business. The answers were mixed, with Derrick bringing up a fascinating point.
“The number of AI projects that are started versus the ones that make it to market is a low number,” Derrick said. “Many of these companies never get to the level of compliance, or the level of low-risk necessary to success commercially.”
Bertolli agreed on the long list of failed projects over the last few years. Smart companies must always consider the potential consequences downstream. For example, one potential consequence of AI in the workplace is job loss. This is perhaps the most prevalent concern in the business community regarding AI.
“Humans are too valuable and cannot be replaced by AI,” Bertolli said. “But, the risk comes when companies feel like they can replace human jobs with AI.”
McGuirick provided a unique perspective on how AI is altering the state of the film industry.
“I frequently wonder how much longer we are going to need new talent,” she said, alluding to the fact that generative AI has the potential to serve as a writing tool, an editing tool, video generator, and campaign creator.
Regardless of how AI may impact employment, the panel agreed that training on prompt engineering and implementing machine learning skills into the current workforce is going to be critical.
Learn more about the Knoxville Technology Council here.
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