AI: from Bias, to Governance, et al.

“What if we’re already in AI?” Kevin Getch , Webfor , joked while moderating the latest SEMpdx panel on Generative AI. Since AI might take over the world, I’m reporting what I learned from the event.

The general consensus was that while AI is still learning, and messes up a lot, it will eventually get to a place where it’s personalized to each individual’s needs — across the entire planet! 

AI is Trained on "His"story         

The notion that AI will affect life as we know it is huge, especially when you consider the issues that could arise, which panelist John Skelly , Food Intelligence, Inc. , brought home with his prediction of bias in AI.

AI is currently being trained on all digital content available, which — otherwise known as “his”story — is gravely biased. That’s why your best AI friend, ChatGPT, spits out racist content. 

To this point, a brave audience member called out the glaring fact that all panelists and event moderator were white, with only one woman represented. 

Enter, the AI Governance Group         

That woman was Ali Maaxa, Ph.D. , Co-Founder of the Portland-based AI Governance Group, which will be highly necessary, considering. Ali said that by understanding human history and social constructs, we’ll be able to govern and possibly predict where AI will take us. 

However, the currently untrained version of AI is essentially “making stuff up,” according to Ali. To which, panelist Matt Bowen , Logical Position , stated that AI may in fact “ruin the internet with garbage.”

Noting that all panelists were “bullish” on AI, Matt brought a refreshingly “bearish” perspective. Not that he doesn’t believe AI will change marketing, but he doesn’t necessarily think it’s all that. Yet, his #1 tip for small business owners is still: do not ignore AI! 

"Personalized, Predictive and Proactive"        

And luckily, none of the panelists were of the mind that AI could replace humans in the workforce. In fact, Kent Lewis , pdxMindShare , said AI could make us more powerful by eliminating repetitive work. He does believe AI will hugely impact search marketing, saying we’ve got about 3-5 years to figure it out. 

When panelist John Hartman , Elevate Media Labs , compared AI to having your very own personalized assistant, Kevin aptly summed-up the event, saying that AI will be: “Personalized, Predictive, and Proactive.” 

Who wouldn’t want to use that to their advantage? 

More AI Content on PR Talk        

For more on AI, check out my latest podcast interviews with Cision ’s Director of AI, Antony Cousins , and all things tech (including ChatGPT) with Logical Position’s Matt Bowen. Plus, stay tuned for my upcoming interview with the co-founders of AI Governance Group, Ali Maxxa and Janet Lee Johnson. 

You can also read about my frustrating experiment with ChatGPT in a past newsletter entry: Testing ChatGPT’s Writing Chops.