Introduction: Generative AI is widely considered the fastest moving technology innovation in history. It has captured the imagination of consumers and enterprises across the globe, spawning incredible innovation and along with it a mutating market ecosystem. Generative AI has also caused a copious amount of FOMO, missteps, and false starts. These are the classic signals of technology disruption – lots of innovation, but also lots of mistakes. It is a rumpus room with a lot of “kids” going wild. The rumpus room needs adults. Guidance through the generative AI minefield will come from thoughtful organizations who do not panic, who understand the fundamentals of AI, and who manage risk.
Our picks for this week’s Adults in the Generative AI Rumpus Room are Salesforce, DeepLearning.AI, and Microsoft.
Salesforce’s Commitment: Trusted Use of AI
The News: In the keynote at Dreamforce 2023 on September 12, CEO Marc Benioff introduced the company’s Tenets of Trusted, Ethical, and Humane AI and emphasized Salesforce’s commitment to the use of trusted AI.
Salesforce’s Tenets of Trusted, Ethical and Humane AI include:
- Your data is not our product.
- You control access to your data.
- We prioritize accurate, verifiable results.
- Our product policies protect human rights.
- We advance responsible AI globally.
- Transparency builds trust.
In the Dreamforce keynote, Benioff spoke over and over again about AI, and in the same sentence, trust. He said you cannot do AI without being able to trust what it does. The company is liberally using the word trust in describing AI capabilities. During the keynote, he said that we have an incredible opportunity in AI, but how we do it, matters. He said we have to do it right, and we have to do it responsibly.
Watch the Dreamforce 2023 main keynote address on the Salesforce website.
Adults because… The Dreamforce statements are the latest in a string of responsible actions Salesforce has taken with AI. There is a lot of public conversation about regulation when it comes to privacy, bias, toxicity, hallucinations, transparency, explanability, consumer rights, IP and copyright laws, consumer protection, and how those regulations could stifle innovation and business growth and US competitive advantages.
What we need is a conversation that is less about what specifically we should do about government regulation and more about what companies can do to act responsibly with AI right now, and in that process, calm the nerves of all parties – AI users, companies leveraging AI, and government.
What is missing in the equation is representation from a company that is on the front line of live AI application, one that is taking the risk of leveraging AI (and reaping some reward). Further, Washington needs to hear about what that experience has taught such a company, and that implementing the pillars of responsible AI (responsible, accountable, transparent, empowering, and inclusive are the Salesforce Trusted AI Principles) is good business discipline, which mitigates AI risk for both the company that is offering the service and its customers.
DeepLearning.AI and Microsoft AI for Good Lab Launch AI for Good Coursera Series
The News: On September 12, DeepLearning.AI, in partnership with Microsoft Research’s AI for Good Lab, announced the launch of a new Coursera learning series called AI for Good. DeepLearning.AI describes it as such: “Our new specialization, AI for Good, teaches a framework for using AI when stakes are high and human lives may hang in the balance. Robert (Munro) Monarch presents a practical framework for [machine learning] in socially important projects (and products of any kind), and illustrates it with real projects in improving climate change, disaster response, and public health. AI for Good is designed to be useful whether or not you have coding experience. It does include Python code examples that you can execute and interact with to gain deeper insight into different applications.”
Read the full details of the AI for Good learning series on the DeepLearning.AI website.
Adults because… These days, AI gets a wide range of press, and because the market, particularly for generative AI, is so nascent, there is a lot that is simply unknown about what AI can do or how it will ultimately be used. In that dialog, AI is often framed as technology with the potential for nefarious uses, such as deep fakes, misinformation, and cybercrime. There has been very little mentioned about the potential of AI for good. This course series, aimed at non-technical individuals, could help change the narrative. The course series includes the foundational importance of understanding all AI capabilities and limitations for any use case. It also focuses on AI for good use cases such as air quality monitoring, wind power forecasting, solar power, biodiversity monitoring, hate speech and fake news detection, and disaster response. Public education and awareness of what AI can do to improve our world is a story worth telling and, more important, one worth being heard.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
Adults in the Generative AI Rumpus Room: Gleen, IBM
Adults in The Generative AI Rumpus Room: Arthur, YouTube, and AI2
Adults in the Generative AI Rumpus Room Cohere, IBM, Frontier Model Forum
Author Information
Based in Tampa, Florida, Mark is a veteran market research analyst with 25 years of experience interpreting technology business and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida.
