From ChatGPT to AI generated art and deep fake videos, Generative AI is poised to impact every industry - including telecom. This lunchtime session focuses on the opportunities, not the challenges of Generative AI, and will introduce a few startups taking us into this new future.
Silicon Valley, California, May 18, 2023/Meeting Recap/ Generative AI, and LLM are the hot topic of the year. But telcos aren’t trying to make six-fingered images, or cheat on their school essays! Nevertheless, we expect there are numerous ways that Generative AI (GAI) could be used at the network operators. To learn and share more about these ways, Telecom Council members and presenters eagerly gathered at the VC Mayfield’s Palo Alto offices, to delve into the realm of conversational AI platforms and their transformative potential within the telecom industry.
We kicked off with a panel discussion with Andrew Gray, Partner at Morgan Lewis, and Stefan Petzov, VP Innovation and Partnerships at Swisscom. From these two domain experts, we learned of how the Intellectual Properties of LLM content, prompts, and learning libraries created a whole new world of unsolved legal questions. Stefan dove into the challenges of sharing confidential information in AI prompts, and discussing a novel way to “tokenize” key aspects of the prompts, to anonymize and sanitize it. As usual, the room got rather involved, and we ended up asking far more questions than we answered in these early days. One provocative question was whether this could spell the end of intellectual property…or instead that all creative content might be locked up in IP?
Our only concrete conclusion was the realization that "things are never gonna be the same again", and that individuals and companies had better learn to use AI, or get beat out by somebody who has.
Startup Presentations:
Several startups, and a few established innovators presented their solutions focused on leveraging conversational AI platforms in telecoms. Each presentation showcased unique approaches to utilizing this technology to drive advancements in various areas, and gave us ideas of practical implementations, use cases, and the resulting benefits. GAI can lower costs, increase agility, improve employee workflow, and enhanced customer experiences.
Now, as a human, my fingers are getting tired, so I’ll leave you guessing about who actually wrote the following conclusion.
The conference proved to be a captivating exploration of the impact and potential of conversational AI platforms in the telecom industry. Attendees gained valuable insights from industry leaders and startups, witnessing firsthand how this technology can revolutionize customer interactions, streamline operations, and drive innovation. The presentations on chatbots, hybrid intelligence, work automation, chat APIs, conversational search, and call center tech highlighted the diverse applications within the telecom sector. The conference concluded with an overwhelming sense of excitement about the future possibilities and the recognition that embracing conversational AI platforms will be vital for telecom companies to thrive in the evolving landscape.
Thanks to our hosts, Mayfield, our panelists, and our great presenters. Slide decks are available in the member’s library.