AI is here to stay!

Dear Readers,

I recently attended a panel discussion at a technology conference. After a little over 20 minutes of intense discussion, one of the participants made a reference to ChatGPT, prompting an immediate reaction from another participant who remarked in a smug voice that this was the event of his day that had taken the longest to bring up the topic of ChatGPT.

This situational comedy is a good reflection of what we have been experiencing since November 2022. ChatGPT is nothing less than the fastest-growing application of all time. For years after the launch of the iPhone, there were rumors of future disruptions. Now, few doubt that the next great disruption is upon us. Most of you have probably tried ChatGPT. We are all fascinated by how a large machine learning model – a “large language model” in the jargon – can seemingly answer questions and interact with users in such a convincing and articulate way, including a slight “creepiness” factor.

AI has been creeping into everyday life for a long time.

There’s no question about it: AI is here to stay! In some cases, AI has crept into our personal lives very quietly: with Siri and Alexa, with product recommendations on shopping websites, with smart thermostats, and surely soon with many more automatically generated texts. (No, this one is not auto-generated!) AI-centric companies are increasingly making advances in artificial intelligence, and our focus at INFORM has been supporting business processes with algorithms for over 50 years. Increasingly, “digital decision-making” is an inadequate description. The amount of data available to our customers today is growing rapidly. This enables us to provide much more holistic intelligent support, whether the data is based on machine learning algorithms or based on search and optimization algorithms that support decision-making, planning, and scheduling.

AI supports logistics and production processes.

In this issue of our magazine, we present examples of everyday applications of artificial intelligence. We describe how intelligent software applications can provide precise support. Language models can play a role here, but other approaches are usually required, especially for physical processes in production and logistics. We use data-driven approaches, such as machine learning, as well as search and optimization methods that are also part of artificial intelligence and make similar leaps. We call this “hybrid artificial intelligence” – using the best intelligent methods for the problem at hand.

AI must be used in an ethically responsible way.

We are concerned that artificial intelligence is used in an ethically responsible manner. At INFORM, we use algorithms exclusively for ethically justifiable-use cases. For algorithms whose decisions affect humans, we ensure that they can be controlled at any time and their results can be checked and adjusted. For us, the final decision is always made by a human being. In this way, we are already laying the foundations today to meet future regulatory requirements, e.g., from the “EU AI Act.”

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of our customer magazine INFORMATION – with AI in everyday business, “engineered by INFORM.”