Reflections from The Global AI Summit

Over the past two days, I have had the pleasure and honor to chair forward-looking discussions around the future of AI at The Global AI Summit – organized by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) and G20 Saudi Secretariat.

Here are my personal four takeaways from these discussions with inspiring leaders from business, government and the civil society:

1/ We are only at the dawn of the AI revolution.

While few applications of AI are truly deployed at scale yet, this technology is already disrupting all facets of our societies: the way we work, the way we communicate, the way we produce and consume, the way we make decisions…Today, we are still in a world where AI-enabled technologies mainly replace existing processes – e.g. the way predictive analytics are replacing traditional enterprise application software. But Humanity must prepare for the next wave of AI – the one which completely reinvents our lives – not just elements here and there.

2/ Humans are the key to impact with AI

We had seen this emerging in our recent MIT-BCG AI Study: the integration of Humans and AI is crucial for organizations to build the necessary capabilities to surf on the next wave of AI. Enshrining the concept of “Human in the loop” will be fundamental to ensure human intelligence is put to contribution to amplify the power of AI. In other words: “Humans need to act as curators for how AI disrupt the future”, to quote a thoughtful panelist.

3/ AI needs a social license to operate

The major limitation to deploying AI at scale is not technological, but rather lies in the acceptance of AI. To date, many still fear AI – with rising concerns about ethical issues, biases, security or transparency. Both education and regulation will be critical to grant AI with a “Social License to Operate”. On the one hand, education must enable transparency on AI benefits and challenges, while also being the necessary source of empowerment for tomorrow’s AI talents. On the other hand, regulation needs to ensure both a fair level-playing field for organizations and provide them the necessary visibility for innovation to thrive.

4/ Global cooperation is essential to make AI revolution a success

Education and Regulation are two levers that require global collaboration to be successful, for which a strong multi-lateral governance body like the United Nations should play a role. Following UN’s Secretary General intent to create an Advisory Board on Global AI Co-operation, we opportunely debated its potential areas of focus in a UN-led consultation organized by #YuPingChang within the summit.

What's next?

Today, in our world in which AI impacts all stakeholders globally, I strongly believe it is critical to ensure representativeness for every voice, including the most vulnerable ones. And the United Nations is the best positioned to make this a reality. Eventually, the world needs a single governance mechanism for AI, potentially similar to what the WTO is for global trade as stated by Dr. Mishrai al Mishrai. This will be a long path for sure, but the UN’s Secretary General Advisory board on Global AI co-operation can be its first milestone.

And a special thank you to the speakers in the sessions I chaired, look forward to continuing the conversation on the future of AI:

• Adrian McDonald, President, Dell Technologies EMEA
•  Dr. Adrian Weller, Program Director for AI at The Alan Turing Institute
•  Aidan Connolly, CEO, Cainthus
•  Ajay Bhalla, President of Cybersecurity & Intelligence Solutions, Mastercard
•  Anett Numa, Digital Transformation Adviser, e-Estonia Briefing Centre
•  Antoine Blondeau, Founder & Managing Partner, Alpha Intelligence Capital
•  Dr. Bruce Ferguson, President of American University of Iraq
•  Bruno Lanvin, President, Smart City Observatory, IMD Business School
• Cecilia Nicolini, Special Advisor to the President, Argentina
•  Dan Brennan, Vice President, BakerHughesC3.ai at Baker Hughes
•  Gabriella Dorlhiac, Executive Director, International Chamber of Commerce
•  Josh Giegel, Co-Founder and CTO, Virgin Hyperloop
•  Dr. Maliha Hashmi, Executive Director and Deputy Chair, NEOM Covid-19 Leadership Task Force
•  Dr. Mishari Al-Mishari, Head of the Strategy Management Office at the Saudi Data and AI Authority  (SDAIA)
•  Prof. Pascale Fung, Director, Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE)
• Rajeev Misra, CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisers
•  Thomas Siebel, Chairman & CEO, C3.ai
•  Dr. Tony F. Chan, President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
•  Dr. Walden C. Rhines, President & CEO, Cornami, Inc., United States
•  Yu Ping Chan, Leader of the Digital Cooperation team in the Office of the UN Secretary General  Special Advisor