Andrea Isoni from AI Technologies: Cybersecurity is the only sector with ROI in AI

"Cybersecurity is the only sector currently putting money in AND cashing out from AI" - Andrea Isoni

In this episode, Rod and Chris engage with AI expert Andrea Isoni to discuss the latest trends in generative AI as outlined in his annual report.

They explore the distinctions between secular and catalyst trends, the impact of regulation on AI adoption, and the investment landscape, particularly in cybersecurity. Andrea shares insights from his background in data science and the challenges of data generation, emphasizing the importance of both original and synthetic data.

The conversation also touches on the increasing adoption of AI technologies among youth and the implications for businesses. The conversation delves into the evolving landscape of AI usage globally, highlighting significant traffic from countries like India and Indonesia.

It discusses the trend of companies rebranding as AI-first, the emergence of smaller AI models, and the integration of RPA with AI. The risks of cannibalization in the AI market, the importance of liability in AI development, and predictions for GPU efficiency and energy consumption are also explored, culminating in insights about the future of AI technology.

Takeaways

• The report identifies cybersecurity as a key area benefiting from AI adoption.

• Understanding secular and catalyst trends is crucial for predicting AI's future impact.

• Regulatory frameworks are evolving to protect human life while enabling AI innovation.

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Christine Wang, Rod Rivera, Maxson J.Y. Tee

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Episode Transcript

Introduction and Background

Rod: Welcome to another fantastic episode of the Chris Rod Max show. I'm joined by my co-hosts Chris and Max and our special guest Andrea Izzoni, an AI expert and industry observer who produces an annual AI report.

Chris: Hey everyone, good to be back.

Andrea: Hi everyone, thank you for having me.

The Structure of the AI Report

Rod: Andrea, you have your yearly report on generative AI, with the last one released in January 2024. Can you share the biggest trends you were seeing?

Andrea: Let me first clarify the report's structure. There are three main sections:

1. Secular trends - trends impacting for 10+ years

2. Catalyst trends - trends impacting for 5 years or less

For example, population aging is a secular trend - it's ongoing and continuous. An example of a catalyst trend would be AI investments, happening for less than five years.

Key Findings and Cybersecurity Focus

Andrea: One significant outcome was the importance of cybersecurity. First adopters of AI are usually malicious actors, and if there's one winner in AI adoption, it's cybersecurity. The more AI is adopted, the more you need to spend or regulate to combat misuse.

In consumer markets, we predicted ChatGPT adoption rates, which proved accurate. We also predicted that smaller companies and open-source models would catch up with proprietary models like GPT-4, which happened around July-August.

Andrea's Background in AI

Rod: Your report is very comprehensive. Can you share your background?

Andrea: I'm an academic translator for business. After my PhD in London in 2010, I moved into data science when it was still a new field. In 2014, many recruiters didn't even know what data science was - at least in London, though it was already established in the US.

I landed a job at Founders Factory, wrote a book called "Machine Learning for the Web," and worked on various AI technologies through consultancy.

Regulatory Evolution and Investment Landscape

Chris: You mentioned cybersecurity getting the better half of AI. Could you elaborate on data privacy and regulation, especially with GDPR and the EU Act?

Andrea: First, let's distinguish between approaches. The EU Act, coming into force on August 1st this year, is a horizontal approach - one body of law regulating all industries. Other governments like Israel or the UK prefer a vertical approach, where each sector's authority handles its own AI regulation.

The EU Act's main principle is protecting human life from AI's unintended effects. It has different risk tiers:- Limited risk (e.g., customer service chatbots)- High risk (e.g., AI scoring examination results)

Future Trends and Hardware Development

Andrea: One clear trend we're seeing involves GPU development, particularly Nvidia's upcoming Blackwell GPU. We're expecting massive performance improvements and significantly lower power consumption. The energy efficiency is improving by 20-30% with each generation.

The hardware landscape shows:- NVIDIA maintaining dominance in corporate/data center space- AMD having opportunities for cost-effective solutions.

Closing Remarks

Rod: Andrea, where can people find your report and connect with you?

Andrea: You can find me on LinkedIn as Andrea Isoni. The report is available for free at stateofartificialintelligence.com or https://www.aitechnologies.co in the AI insights section.

Rod: Thank you everyone for tuning in. Remember to join us every Monday for another episode of the Chris Rod Max Show.