Nina Schick is a leading voice on technology and artificial intelligence; in 2023, she was featured among the Top Keynote Speakers on Generative AI. As AI and other emerging technologies dominate the headlines, Nina Schick offers valuable insight on digital transformation and the ethical risks of big data in this Q&A. 

What are the ethical risks of AI and big data for society?  

“The question of ethics, AI, and big data will become intensely political and an issue that we will be discussing for a long time from here on. 

“You have this utterly transformative technology which I think is going to change the economy; it’s going to change the labour market; it’s going to change the framework of society. 

“The question about how you apply this technology in a way that’s fair, safe and ethical is just going to be, like I say, a dominant political issue.”

How do data and AI affect the political landscape?  

“When you think about how profound AI is in its ability to impact and change the framework of society, this AI revolution will become one of our generation’s most important political questions. 

“We’ve already seen how the information revolution of the past 30 years, the Internet, smartphones, and cloud computing, have become major geopolitical forces shaping our world. 

“Now, you add the AI revolution on top of that and the data powering it, and again, you have a seismic political issue that will be one of the most important things societies need to deal with in the next generation. 

“So, when you ask about how it will impact politics, it will become politics.”

What role does generative AI play in the future of business?  

“I think generative AI has transformed the economy. This is a moment like, perhaps, 1993 when we were being told to prepare for the Internet and 30 years ago, we possibly didn’t understand how the Internet would change business forever.  

“Now generative AI is like that, but an even bigger deal, because you can understand generative AI as almost a combustion engine for all human creative and intelligent activity. 

“So, in every industry, every bit of productivity will be transformed by generative AI. Those use cases are emerging now.”

How will the Metaverse and immersive technologies change business in the future?  

“I think the Metaverse is this concept of where the Internet may go and how digital experiences might be perceived going forward, where it’s far more immersive. 

“However, the interesting thing with AI is that it is the vehicle that will allow us to build this immersive digital experience. 

“Whilst the Metaverse is still an untested concept about where the Internet may go, what is definitely true right now is that AI is going to be the vehicle, if you will, that will build the content that will go into this immersive experience.”

What advice would you give to businesses looking to transform their mindset digitally?  

“For businesses looking to digitally transform their mindset, you must understand the conceptual paradigm change happening now with artificial intelligence. 

“Once you have a conceptual framework, you can dig deep quickly. I think if you want to be competitive and you want to have an advantage, this is the time to start looking at how generative AI can be applied in your business. 

“There are lots of considerations that you need to get into: what are your priority areas? What are the long-term gains? What’s your long-term AI strategy?  

“I think if you put together a generative AI working group to investigate this, you know your business is going to be transformed and be able to compete with the other businesses that are using AI to transform their processes.”

This interview with Nina Schick was conducted by Chris Tompkins.