Welcome to the AI Ecosystem Report, featuring practitioner analyst and entrepreneur Toni Witt. This series is intended to deliver the timely intelligence about artificial intelligence (AI) you need to get up to speed for an upcoming client engagement or board meeting.
Highlights
Innovation (00:21)
As part of its “technology pulse poll” reports, EY surveyed over 250 executives across the tech industry about AI hiring trends and patterns. With companies investing more in AI, the technology is having a greater influence on talent and hiring decisions. Researching this impact can be useful in seeing where we are now and determining where we might be heading in the near- and long term. The survey found that:
- 50% of leaders and tech companies anticipate layoffs and new hiring in the coming six months as a direct result of AI
- Three out of five said that AI has made it more difficult to source top-tier talent, or talent with AI experience
- 72% of respondents said their employees are using AI at least daily in the workplace, with top use cases including coding and software development
- 85% believe that emerging technology has a positive impact on workplace culture
The survey also covered some drawbacks and major concerns that the executives had about AI. Half agreed that further regulations on AI are required. Bias, user privacy, and safeguarding IP were key concerns. Other issues raised included AI’s potential to make decision-making less transparent; this is critical for the management and executive layers. The risk of copyright infringement and the need to upskill employees were other prevalent concerns.
The AI Ecosystem Q1 2024 Report compiles the innovations, funding, and products highlighted in AI Ecosystem Reports from the first quarter of 2024. Download now for perspectives on the companies, investments, innovations, and solutions shaping the future of AI.
Funding (03:26)
Biotech startup Xaira raised $1 billion in funding. This is one of the largest initial biotech funding commitments. The company doesn’t have a live product yet, but its team is stacked with highly qualified people.
Xaira is applying AI and machine learning in various ways to build out a platform for drug discovery, accelerating product development, and finding new ways to treat human diseases. While there isn’t much information publicly available on its developments, it is clear that the company is working on AI applications across every stage of the drug discovery and development lifecycle.
Solution of the Week (05:19)
Claros built a web-based chatbot that serves as an AI shopping assistant. It’s trained across all major review sites, discussion forums, marketplaces, and general online content, covering a wide variety of products.
Users can type in what they’re looking for using natural language. Claros can ask questions to narrow down the results based on the user’s preferences. At the end of this questionnaire, Claros will highlight a single product recommendation and explain why it selected that product, why it’s a good fit, and provide links to the sources from which it pulled key information.
Right now, Claros is focusing on e-commerce and smaller products. Eventually, it’ll be able to make recommendations on things like cars and appliances. This tool also has the potential to be useful for software buyers and procurement teams making decisions.
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