Diving deeper into AI: A masterclass with Benedict Evans

To really accelerate your use of AI, you need to look at the ecosystem around AI

Industry Analyst Benedict Evans recently hosted an insight event for senior leaders in London. Having spent the last 20 years analysing emerging tech, deconstructing what's happening behind the scenes and pinpointing what really matters for the industry, we were keen to get his take on AI (and the ecosystem around it). See the full take here in his presentation. No time for the full download? Here's the TLDR.

Everyone's trying AI; far fewer are actually using it

Every successful tech advance follows a similar journey. There’s the initial launch that comes with some trepidation; with everyone trying to work out how it's useful. Then it takes off and becomes really exciting. Eventually, it becomes part of the everyday landscape and the excitement wanes. We’re arguably there now with smartphones.

But AI is still at the start of the curve. We are seeing countless innovation possibilities; from image recognition and generation, to speech translation and blogpost drafting.

ChatGPT clocked up 100m users in just six months. Open AI hit $1bn in revenue. Every one of Amazon’s teams is exploring it. Every exec has tried it.

But far fewer are actually using it.

Accelerating the use of GenAI

To accelerate their use of generative AI, organisations need to focus on the ecosystem around AI. They need to prioritise understanding pattern recognition for effective and ethical AI deployment. They need to focus on the UX, the impact on customers, and the implications of AI for copyright, attribution and customer trust.

Getting beyond ‘cool’

Something else organisations need to be able to do is understand the current limits of AI. What generative AI generates almost always looks convincing, but it doesn’t always stand up to scrutiny. Data can be out of date. Cited references don’t always exist. Information stated as fact is sometimes just plain wrong.

And when you give generative AI a design challenge — such as creating a new sports car — the result may be delivered with impressive optics, perfect lighting and realistic perspective - but you’re just as likely to find there’s no door and two steering wheels.

The next big platform shift

AI represents the next big platform shift. But just how big? Smartphone and internet big? Or artificial 'general intelligence' (that is, real intelligence) big? Download Benedict's full presentation to discover more insights, and learn more about Benedict here.  

Download the presentation

Create better AI experiences

Just like a digital strategy, every organisation now needs an AI strategy. Every business needs to experiment with AI to find where the value lies for them. And everyone who wants to get results from AI needs to look beyond AI.

AND Digital can help. We guide, build and equip organisations to accelerate delivery of better, AI-enabled digital products. And we bring the data, UX, cloud and product strategy expertise to help you find real value in your application of AI.

Talk to us about your AI ideas.