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As companies race to bring AI technology into their businesses, some experts discuss issues around integrating it properly and getting employees on board.
The topic of generative AI has wormed its way into almost every sector, a fact that was made clear at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC).
At the ICT and telco event, AI was arguably the cornerstone topic, being connected in some degree to other major discussions about issues such as advanced 5G and the push for sustainability.
Like many sectors, telecoms operators are looking to generative AI as a way to make their businesses more efficient and create more services for their customers. But the discussion around AI was not entirely positive, as there was a degree of scepticism from various speakers.
At a keynote preview discussion, Connective Insight MD Andrew Collinson described AI as the “elephant in the room” for telco and noted that it has potential in boosting productivity.
But he wondered whether the technology can be trusted in its current state, as various high-profile chatbots are known for having ‘hallucinations’ – which is when an AI generates false information but portrays it as factual.
Various experts have referred to generative AI as a “double-edged sword” due to the ability to quickly use the technology – and the ability to greatly influence the outcome based on how a question is asked.
Is the industry ready?
One person who feels AI is a bit “overhyped” in the sector is Andrew Coward, IBM’s GM of software networking. Coward told SiliconRepublic.com that the sector appears to be in the “hype cycle” when it comes to how AI can be used.
“Everybody says they’ve got AI and everybody is saying we can solve all of the problems in telco with it,” Coward said. “There’s a really interesting question about how ready the industry is for AI and that’s not the question that’s really being asked.
“In order for AI to work, there needs to be the right amount of data. Do the telcos actually have the data coming in?”
Coward said that if the telco company lacks the right amount of data and infrastructure to properly utilise AI, then it can reduce AI “in a very toothless way” to some “basic use cases”, such as chatbots for simple customer queries.
In order for AI to be utilised properly, Coward said it needs “orchestration” or the ability to take action. For example, if an AI system knows there is something broken in a system, can it do anything to solve that issue?
“The solution is hard work and some cultural change in the telcos as well, because the telcos are very siloed in how they execute their business. If you ask them to put in an additional 5,000 cell towers, they know exactly how to do that.
“If you say ‘can you make these six different groups work together nicely?’… then that’s a much harder thing for them to do. But that is the hard work that’s required.”
Coward said the issue is really about where capital expenditure (CapEx) is directed, as he believes the telco sector is focused on building out 5G networks.
“My personal belief is that CapEx needs to be diverted into the foundations that are going to make AI work and this orchestration problem is probably the biggest problem that they have”.
Looking beyond the telco sector, a post by IBM Research claims that to have trustworthy AI, there needs to be assurances that the “AI cannot be tampered with and that the system itself is secure”.
“We need to be able to look inside AI systems, to understand the rationale behind the algorithmic outcome, and even ask it questions as to how it came to its decision.”
Getting teams on board
But having the right foundation is only one part of the issue, as there is also the culture of workplaces that can be shaken up by the introduction of new technology. As many companies seem to want AI to be integrated across their operations, this creates an issue of workers needing to reskill.
Davide Bellini is Accenture’s generative AI lead for the communications and media industry. Speaking to SiliconRepublic.com at MWC, he noted how rapidly the concept of generative AI has grown compared to when he was at the event last year.
“If I had to summarise, I would say 2023 was a year of experimentation for the industry. Most of the telcos ran some POCs, got familiar with the technology, the potential.”
Bellini said that one reason for the focus on AI is the fact the technology is so “horizontal” and can be applied to various parts of a business, from procurement to marketing and customer services. But while customer service is one of the most “obvious” ways to use AI, he believes it can also be the trickiest to implement properly.
“Maybe from a technical standpoint, it’s easy to implement the model or to fine tune the model so it does the job right, if you don’t complete the work in changing the way the humans operate with that technology you dilute the benefit or even have the risk of losing it completely”.
Bellini said that training an employee to shift from their usual processes and procedures and start using AI “takes way longer than implementing the technology”. This issue was noted by ServiceNow’s Mark Cockerill, who said workers need support from their employers to make generative AI work for them.
The potential of AI may have businesses thinking about improved productivity and more profits, but for some employees there are also concerns about job losses. A report from the World Economic Forum last year predicted a massive amount of churn in the job market due to AI, with a mix of job losses and new jobs being created.
Some big players in the telco sector such as BT have revealed plans to cut a significant portion of their workforce in the years ahead and to focus on emerging technologies such as AI.
When asked about the concerns around job losses with AI, Bellini spoke about the positive change that ChatGPT caused for job creation and asked, “Do we have more AI companies before ChatGPT or after”?
“Now we have thousands of [AI] companies financed by venture capitalists because in November 2022, something was given [to] the hands of the population and then human ingenuity did the rest,” Bellini said.
“If I give this tool to my employee population, I’m empowering these people to do not only the job that they’re doing today but a lot more. I completely understand the concern, but if I look at what is happening I see a proliferation of opportunity more than a loss of status quo.”
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