Responsible innovation, reskilling needed as tech cos adopt Gen AI: Experts

With generative AI set to influence operations in businesses, industry experts are emphasizing the need for reskilling, as they push for responsible innovation.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, revealed the “extremely curious and truth-seeking” artificial intelligence company xAI on Twitter Spaces. It proposes self-regulation through an industry body.

While Gen AI plays a crucial role in its operations across segments, simply offering its capabilities is not enough, said Arun Kumar Parameswaran, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce India.

He said, “As companies race to adopt and implement generative AI, it is necessary to prioritize balance. Simply offering generative AI capabilities is not enough; responsible innovation must take precedence,” he said.

Companies are betting big on artificial general intelligence. HCL and Wipro announce Public AI Labs, with Wipro pledging US$1 billion to develop AI solutions.

Chennai-based software company Zoho intends to take Gen AI in-house and is currently developing Language Learning Models (LLMs) that can speak, summarize, paraphrase and adapt to new tasks using no-shot learning techniques for AI-driven communication and discovery, stated Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, Principal In-company AI research for PTI.

He feels that an AI itself cannot replace a person from a job, but an individual with access to an AI can.

“While the laws of the land are still catching up, most AI development today is self-regulated. Because this involves sensitive and private information, companies deploying AI must have a strong ethical stance when building this technology,” he said.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm has expressed concern about the power that certain people and countries have together.

“Here’s the OpenAI blog post this week: In less than 7 years we have a system that could lead to human weakening and even human extinction,” he wrote on Twitter.

Recently, the founder and CEO of e-commerce startup Dokan replaced 90 percent of its customer support team with an AI-powered chatbot.

Entrepreneurs should be sensitive to the negative repercussions of their actions while using AI and find alternatives, founder and CEO of TeamLease Shantanu Rooj feels.

“Organisations will need to balance business benefits with societal impact,” he added.

Ajay Kumar, CEO of Bangalore-based technology services firm SLK, said there is a boom-like excitement among entrepreneurs, which makes it difficult to keep up.

He noted that amid all the excitement of creating new business models and securing financial valuations, we have to ensure data privacy and appropriate ethical standards so that technology works for all of us.

Recognizing the recent ups and downs in education technology platforms and concerns of layoffs, industry disruption, and technological advancements must go hand in hand with upskilling and reskilling initiatives, said Sonia Ahuja, Founder and COO of Education Technology Imarticus Learning.

E-learning startup Physics Wallah has an AI-powered “Ask Doubt” tool that suggests relevant doubts and provides guidance to students using its database.

Chief Technology Officer Devesh Mishra encourages transparent human-controlled AI to “preserve the human touch.”

“Technology should complement and enhance human capabilities rather than replace or undermine them,” he added.

San Francisco-based transcription tool Fireflies.ai powers personalized note-taking. ChatGPT-like AskFred pulls answers using a feedback repository.

Krish Raminini, CEO of Fireflies.ai feels that organizations that fail to embrace transformative technologies will struggle to keep up with early adopters. It sees artificial intelligence as a calculator or an Excel-like tool that makes work faster.

AI can crunch numbers, make predictions, and suggest areas for improvement. But, he added, when it comes to building trust and closing deals, nothing beats the human touch.

San Mateo-based Yellow.ai aims to democratize the technology on its platform by supporting local and regional languages.

Yellow.ai CEO and co-founder Raghu Ravinutala notes that entrepreneurs should proactively address the impact of automation on jobs.

While technological advances may displace jobs in certain sectors, entrepreneurs must invest in retraining to ensure a smooth workforce transition.”

Sam Altman, founder and CEO of ChatGPT OpenAI developer, was among the 350 signatories of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Security’s statement to reduce the risk of human extinction from AI.

Amit Das, founder and CEO of Mumbai-based IT services provider Think360.ai, notes that, in the short term, one fears what one does not fully understand. “While mass-market AI like ChatGPT is both exciting and intimidating, task automation will give way to innovations,” he added.

Soham Chokchi, CEO and co-founder of an AI-powered logistics company, Chipsy, feels the technology should empower the workforce. “Technology should not be seen as a substitute for human effort,” he added.