Company bosses in North Wales have been urged to explore how the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be harnessed to boost their profits.<\/p>\n
The plea came from AI innovator Henry Platten who told members of Wrexham Business Professionals that anyone\u00a0 who \u201cburied their head in the sand\u201d over AI risked \u201cburying their business\u201d at the same time.<\/p>\n
At the breakfast meeting, held at Hotel Wrexham, Mr Platten dispelled some of the myths around AI, and said the technology offered a huge range of opportunities for businesses – if it was used correctly and cautiously.<\/p>\n
The other keynote speaker was Detective Constable Roheryn Evans of the North Wales Police\u2019s Cyber Crime Tea, who urged companies to stay alert following a sharp rise in cybercrime and gave advice on how to protect themselves<\/p>\n
Mr Platten, a former police sergeant who hails from Hawarden in Flintshire, has worked with global companies, the UK government and sports organisations including Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and the Football Association on AI projects.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cFor me, if you\u2019re a starter, if you\u2019re a growth company, if you\u2019re a family-run business that\u2019s been going for 40 years, AI can play a part in your day-to-day life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can improve costs, it can help to speed up production or decision-making.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only has AI changed the ball game and rewritten the rules, it has changed business into a whole different game altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery business now needs to explore how AI can help them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd AI is now so accessible, going back even just three years ago it wasn\u2019t as accessible as it is now.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy advice to every business is explore AI, go at your own pace, and make sure you get the right advice and support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key thing about AI is understanding the problem you want to be solved.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing AI can be everything from processing your invoices to generate and get them out quicker to using a chatbot on your website to deal with high volume, high repeat questions that you get, and that means you don\u2019t have to lose staff time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of different efficiencies which exist with AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a magic silver bullet, it is something which does need humans to make sure the right information is going in – the quality of the data is key.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe need to know what AI really is, because we hear about all the scare stories, we hear about Terminators taking over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut AI in its purest sense is about solving problems through maths, it\u2019s looking for patterns, that\u2019s it basically.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite what the Daily Mail says, we are still far more intelligent than what AI is.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically AI is still not perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould I ever trust AI 100 per cent to make a decision on my behalf?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I never would, not now, not in the next 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would still always have a human in the loop to have some role when looking at the data that is produced.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re looking at using AI within your organisation, the first thing and the critical thing, is to understand what are the problems that you are facing that you want to solve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second thing you need to look at is what data you have available.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third step, which is critical, is \u2018human in the loop\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we know what the problem is that we want to solve, once we know we have got the right data, and we know what we\u2019re expecting to see, this is where AI comes into its own.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can process huge amounts of data, it can look at patterns and models we may not normally see when we as humans look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meeting also heard from Katie Skellon from the Wrexham Business and Community Awards and the awards\u2019 board members Sophie Davies and Gareth Walsh who urged people to nominate firms for the awards which take place on November 21.<\/p>\n
Ian Edwards from Wrexham Business Professionals said: \u201cIt was fascinating to hear about how AI can benefit businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHenry\u2019s presentation was an excellent opportunity to learn that if done correctly, AI can open up so many opportunities for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Louise Harper from the group added: \u201cMore and more businesses are turning to AI and it has become a useful tool in so many firms\u2019 everyday work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure our members found Henry\u2019s insight incredibly useful as they look to see how they can use this evolving technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe presentation from DC Evans was also a huge eye opener and a warning to all of us to be on our guard for cybercrime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also very grateful for the helpful advice of what businesses can do to avoid online threats.\u201d<\/p>\n