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Business Record innovationIOWA Weekly | February 23, 2023
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Tech takeaway
The "Tech takeaway" summarizes the topic of the main story and offers insight into the Business Record’s
reporting. Feedback and story ideas can be sent to sarahbogaards@bpcdm.com.
Artificial intelligence and generative AI in particular have captured tech news headlines since technologies like DALL-E, Stable Diffusion and ChatGPT were released last year. How this technology will be used long-term
will certainly continue to evolve and take shape, but this week’s newsletter aims to provide a look at initial reactions as leaders begin to consider potential uses and needs for AI-powered tools.
Two guest pieces from contributors in Iowa’s business and education communities provide context and a business lens to the discussion around AI, and a curated selection of outside reading offers a deeper dive into the nuances of the topic.
— Sarah Bogaards, staff writer
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Guest column: AI isn’t coming for your business — it’s already here
Submitted by John Osako, president and CEO, Informatics Inc.
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It’s 2023 and artificial intelligence is suddenly churning out content everywhere you look. These days, you can have a computer
create sophisticated copy (ChatGPT), original musical scores (MuseNet, SoundRaw), and even cute cat images (the highly recommended The Cat Does Not Exist).
Welcome to the future. Have you begun thinking through the implications to your business?
That’s right — your business. Whatever industry you are in, know that AI is absolutely going to change how you do business in the years ahead. It’s going to lower the cost and effort needed to produce human-acceptable content, product documentation and customer service. It will free up your teams to focus on more complex issues that move your business forward. It might even add some laughs to your day (punchlines.ai, but not quite yet).
The exciting thing for technologists and sci-fi fanatics is the fact that AI-assisted business is no longer "five years away" — it’s here today. Your employees are excited to experiment with it, your competitors are implementing it, and you’ll soon be seeing and hearing AI-generated content everywhere.
Don’t believe me? Consider Microsoft’s recent announcement that it had incorporated ChatGPT technology, licensed from OpenAI, into its Bing search engine — a perennial doormat in the search market. That move earned Bing a surge in downloads within Apple and Google app stores, and Google was forced to announce its own plans to add AI technology to search.
We are only in the first few steps of this race, and it’s already changing how we work in tech and nontech fields alike. Here are just a few examples of how innovative entrepreneurs are using AI to redefine their work:
- Time-strapped Realtors, always focused on sales, have begun using ChatGPT to write listings descriptions and video tour scripts.
- Coders are using AI
chatbots like ChatGPT to create usable code in a variety of languages on the fly.
- News outlets from the Associated Press to CNET are using AI technology to automate the creation of rote topic explainers and earnings reports.
- Marketers (including those here at Informatics) are using AI generation tools to develop persona sketches, chatbot scripts and even images for use in video storyboards.
OK, but how does it all work?
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus here on ChatGPT and other experimental chatbots like Google’s LaMDA, which are examples of large language models (LLMs), but know that all AI generation tools are built in much the same way.
LLMs are complex
algorithms that can recognize, summarize, predict and generate text, based on patterns gleaned from giant data sets of existing content. Their data sets span the sea of content available online —the good, the bad, and the ugly (more on this in a second).
Once the algorithms are "trained," they can use those patterns to create text in response to user prompts, from the short paragraphs of ChatGPT to the free-flowing conversations in LaMDA. LLMs have now reached a point of sophistication where their responses generally sound like natural, human-generated content, even when presented with truly unique prompts.
For example, ask ChatGPT to explain quantum mechanics in the style of Snoop Dog or write a super embarrassing college essay. Go
ahead, do it — if you haven’t seen it in action before, you’re likely to be amazed.
But that doesn’t mean these models are always right (or even mostly right).
Continue reading on innovationia.com
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Guest column: Don’t be afraid of ChatGPT
Submitted by Patrick Fan, professor of business analytics, University of Iowa Tippie College of Business
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ChatGPT has arrived, bringing artificial intelligence directly into the workplace, classroom and other parts of our lives to create
what is essentially a fourth industrial revolution.
But is it something to worry about? While artificial intelligence will only play a greater role in our futures, it is not something to fear. It is a tool, and like all tools, it’s imperative we learn to understand how it works and the best ways to use it.
Like calculators and CD players before them, AI-enabled tools can make our lives more productive, fun and entertaining. They can write poems and informative essays, summarize texts, and answer questions. They can be used to help organize thoughts and take notes. Imagine a
ChatGPT-enabled companion robot that can read stories and write jokes for elderly or lonely people.
They will have a significant impact on the workplace, too, making employees more productive and creative. Companies like Microsoft and Google are already incorporating ChatGPT tools into their office products to help people work more efficiently.
Like any new tool, AI presents a set of ethical, legal and economic challenges that must be addressed. Students can use these tools to cheat on homework or tests. It raises intellectual property questions and the work it produces often contains
factual inaccuracies. These tools are also unable to make ethical decisions.
But even with these challenges, we need to embrace and leverage these tools to help us be more productive, finding new business usage processes and applications to benefit society. In schools, for instance, there are already calls to ban student use of ChatGPT in tests and writing assignments. Instead, we should be teaching students how to use them as learning tools. Businesses are already using ChatGPT, so schools are doing a disservice to their students by prohibiting it.
We can take steps to develop
regulations, awareness and training. We’ll need to build detection tools to flag cheating, and laws will need to be adjusted to prevent people from stealing others’ intellectual property. Liability will be an issue, too. For instance, who is legally responsible when something written by a ChatGPT command causes someone to be injured?
Individually, we need to use our intelligence and perform our own due diligence to fact-check and gatekeep when we use ChatGPT. Always take what it produces with a grain of salt. And don’t be afraid to educate yourself on how to better leverage these tools to create new applications, usages and job opportunities.
The future is wide open with these AI tools. Whoever sees ChatGPT as a friend and not an enemy can
grasp the opportunity to build next-generation creative applications and have the advantage.
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InnoVenture Iowa Fund announces investment committee
The InnoVenture Iowa Fund, the state’s first publicly funded venture capital fund, has announced the members of its investment committee, who will decide which early-stage Iowa-based companies the fund invests in. Anita Norian (left) and Leigh Parker (right) have joined Tom Trone, Martina Bockenstedt and Shane Larson, who started on the committee after the fund’s launch last year. Norian is president of GW Nutrition and has 25 years of business leadership with expertise in food ingredient manufacturing, wholesale consumer goods and e-commerce sales. Parker is the owner and principal consultant of a consulting firm. Her background is in engineering and technology, including 24 years with Rockwell Collins/Collins Aerospace, and leading large R&D organizations. More information about the five-member committee is available on the innoventureiowa.com.
ISU professor speaking today at webinar about AI research
Lingyao "Ivy" Yuan, an Iowa State University assistant professor of information systems and business analytics, is speaking at a webinar today about a Harvard Business Review article she co-wrote about the emergence of digital
humans. The webinar is at 3:30 p.m., and registration is available through Indiana University. Yuan has been researching digital humans for the last seven years and wrote the article with colleagues to outline what companies should consider when thinking about making digital humans digital employees. Digital humans are AI-powered virtual human-like beings capable of conversation. "As we’re seeing with ChatGPT, new tech can be a disruptor," Yuan said in a news release. "Companies need to discuss potential impacts and unintended outcomes before jumping into the decision of implementing digital humans. My colleagues and I want to be part of the discussion. We want to provide our insights on the future direction of AI." The article, "AI with a human face: The case for – and against – digital employees," is available to download at a cost at this link.
Brale raises $11.1M in funding
Brale, a Des Moines-based startup founded by Ben Milne, announced Wednesday it has raised
$11.1 million in funding. The funding round was led by Maryland-based New Enterprise Associates with Managing General Partner Scott Sandell joining Brale’s board of directors. Additional individual participation came from Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, and Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. Brale will use the funding to invest in research and development and support regulatory efforts. Milne said in an emailed statement that Brale was created to "combine the best of decentralized finance and centralized finance featuring the stability and benefits of centralized finance with the speed and versatility of decentralized protocols."
Mazen receives key patent for first vaccine product
Mazen Animal Health, an animal health company developing maize-based vaccines, announced it has been issued a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its technology to produce orally delivered animal vaccines. The patent covers foundational technology for the company’s first vaccine product for Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, according to a news release. The virus is a widespread concern with a death rate of 80% to 100% in infected piglets. Prevention in neonatal pigs is difficult because the virus is highly infectious and able to survive in the environment even with strict sanitation practices. The release said Mazen’s vaccine product is anticipated to launch in 2024.
Other news:
- Data exposed in Des Moines schools ransomware attack that disrupted district (Des Moines Register)
- UI researcher wins global biomedical science prize (Corridor Business Journal)
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FROM THE BUSINESS RECORD:
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
These stories originally appeared in the Business Record's e-newsletters and weekly publication.
Sign up for our free e-newsletters to stay up-to-date all week long. Learn about membership here
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GOOD TECH READS
AI in the news
- Generative AI is here: How tools like ChatGPT could change your business (McKinsey)
- Generative AI holds promise and peril for private market investors (Pitchbook)
- 4 roadblocks to business adoption of generative AI (CIO Dive)
- How AI and Big Data will (and should) change your IP strategy (McKee, Voorhees and Sease)
- The creator of ChatGPT thinks AI should be regulated (Time)
- VC Sarah Guo buys AI startups, but not the hype (Pitchbook)
- Amid ChatGPT outcry, some teachers are inviting AI to class (Associated Press)
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MEMBERSHIP EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Bringing engagement to employee benefits
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By Sarah Bogaards | Staff
Writer 3E Partners is named after the three Es that represent the company’s goals: engagement, education and enrollment. President Josh Terrell has homed in on engagement since starting the insurance brokerage three years ago.
3E Partners specializes in voluntary and supplemental benefits, which range from coverage for disability and postpartum recovery to pets and identity theft protection. But Terrell and his team seek to carve another niche for the brokerage as "an engagement agency."
He and his team see an opportunity to "reinvigorate" the benefits process by building lasting relationships with clients and tailoring benefits to their specific needs.
"For the people that spend one time per year on [benefits] or that want to use it frequently, they want to have peace of mind. They want to make sure they understand it, but most are selecting the same benefits year over year," Terrell said. Read
more
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MORE INSIDER CONTENT: See all Business Record Insider content and learn more about how to receive the weekly publication. Click here
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BUSINESS RECORD CALENDAR
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 7-8: 2023 Iowa Biotech Showcase & Conference "Food Insecurity: Facing the Future with Innovation"
The 2023 IBSC will
address various questions on how to feed the world with a challenging and changing set of circumstances, from climate change to rapid population growth, rising food costs, and even war. Can innovation keep the pace? The biotechnology industry is a natural leader in this space, and Iowa is a breeding ground for innovators that are advancing the unlimited opportunities to create sustainable, biological solutions to advance food security, and respond to global food supply and human nutritional needs. The IBSC will closely examine Iowa’s role in biotechnology and innovation on the local and global stage.
The keynote address will be delivered by Terry Branstad, former Iowa governor and U.S. ambassador to China and the new president of the Des Moines-based World Food Prize Foundation.
WHEN: March 7: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; March 8: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
WHERE: FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 S.W. Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny
Registration and a schedule of events are available on the event page
View our full calendar to see the latest curated business and community
events, or suggest an event.
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