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Expert in technology and influencer Xavier Mitjana chaired the new session of DisruptIA cycle, which Banco Sabadell hosts with a view to providing its employees with all the information they need to help them adapt to the emergence of artificial intelligence, a technology that is now beginning to substantially alter many fundamental aspects of day-to-day life, both in companies and an increasing number of people in their daily lives.
Xavier Mitjana: “Artificial Intelligence won’t take anyone’s job away. What it can do is cause the disappearance of companies who don’t know how to integrate it”
Mr. Mitjana began his talk by reminding us that, as powerful and impactful as this new revolution now upon us is, we cannot ignore that, throughout the history of humanity, there have been many inventions that have caused profound social changes, sometimes leading to the disappearance of certain professions. Therefore, among others, he mentioned the paradigm shifts in the wake of the emergence of resources such as:
- The printing press
- The car
- The telephone
- Or Excel spreadsheets.
Why, then, has generative AI caused such social upheaval?
What is so different about this new technological revolution and why is everyone talking about it? This is fundamentally down to two factors. Firstly, the speed at which it is spreading, which is possibly much faster than has been seen in similar processes thus far. This means artificial intelligence has managed to permeate society in a matter of months, far more than many other equally transformational technologies, which have taken years and even decades to do so.
Secondly, the breathtaking pace of its improvements. In just a few months, even weeks, we have seen the emergence of new artificial intelligence tools or versions improving upon existing ones, which have made the previous technology entirely obsolete nearly instantaneously.
The artificial intelligence options out there are becoming so powerful that they have even proven capable of resolving a few minutes intellectual tasks that had taken PhD students months to complete using their existing resources.
Much less of an impact on the job market than what many experts envisaged
Does this mean the AI will eliminate jobs or end up replacing humans? And here is where this expert takes a different opinion than most specialists who have spoken at the DisruptIA cycle seminars to date. For Mr. Mitjana, the use of these technologies leads to significant increases in worker productivity, but not so much –at least in certain economic sectors– as what is usually reported. He also placed special emphasis on the need for expert supervision on the users provided by artificial intelligence because in some fields (such as medicine) it may be the case that, although it provides us with correct answers to our questions, they may not be the most optimal. And in areas such as health, one must always seek out the best option, not just the correct one.
Three specific cases of applying AI in companies’ day-to-day
He then went on to examine in detail possible cases of using artificial intelligence in three very specific professional activities:
- Architecture. Using several examples, he demonstrated how AI is already making a significant contribution to increasing productivity in this profession, saving its professionals a significant amount of time and providing them with new capabilities that were previously unthinkable.
- Medicine. In this regard, and as already mentioned, despite the wide range of applications that have already been rolled out in this field, in particular he stressed the importance of always keeping track of the results of this type of technology before putting into practice what AI might suggest we do.
- Communication, especially applied to training activities. In this case, AI can also lead to significant time savings and optimisation of work flows. Something that he demonstrated with specific examples of practices that any company can start rolling out today.
To learn more about all these examples, you can watch the full video of the talk.
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