AI: ‘We should welcome it with caution’
Mikal Minors, chief executive of Better Digital Solutions, Anthony Francis, a data privacy and information security advocate, give their views on artificial intelligence.
Q: Explain what Artificial Intelligence is, we tend to think of things like ChatGPT, but what else is it?
Mikal Minors: It means a machine that is able to learn and then follow instructions based on what it has learnt. A simple example is face detection in your phone. Anytime you open an iPhone, the camera finds your face because it’s trained to know what a “face” is.
Q: How is it already in our lives — home and work and it what ways?
MM: At work, most of us use things like Google to do everyday tasks. If you’ve ever typed in the search bar, you’ve used AI when it tells you what you’re most likely looking for. It’s doing that because AI is looking at an algorithm and saying, ‘this is the most likely end of this sentence’.
Q: Should we welcome AI: Why? Or should we be wary of it?
MM: The only honest answer is we have to do both. We should welcome it with caution. AI has helped us in many industries but has also opened up new doors for bad actors to have more sophisticated attacks and options to do bad things.
We have to be welcoming of it so that we can be prepared to act against the people that are using it for the wrong reasons.
Q: Which industries in Bermuda are most likely to use, or benefit from AI, and how?
MM: Healthcare, hospitality and finance industries will probably use and benefit from it the most. Some of the ways they can benefit are from better communication, data analysis, and organisation.
Q: What are the implications of that?
MM: Some of the implications would be swift customer support, accelerated problem-solving, minimised wait times for responses and reduced time invested in mundane tasks. This, in turn, frees up more time for focusing on bigger tasks.
Q: What about use of AI in government
MM: The Government can use AI in many ways, one being to make things faster and much more efficient, while saving more money.
Q: Does Bermuda need AI regulations/a regulatory regime? If so what?
MM: Yes, there are a lot of crimes being committed using AI that have a unique level of damage that can be done that the previous methods of these crimes don’t. It’s a new technology with a lot of potential.
And the unfortunate thing about Bermuda is a lot of times we often over-regulate and kill aspirations and people that could not afford to take the risk of learning.
We need to make sure that does not happen so that Bermuda can be a flourishing space for the AI industry. AI regulation should be preventative, not a punishment.
At what point do we stop to assess where we are? Who, or what institutions, will govern our technology future? Should there be limits? Who gets to decide? Realistically, we already govern it every day.
If somebody takes this technology and they go and steal, using that technology, we punish them for stealing. We shouldn’t punish people for building AI and if things go wrong we shouldn’t punish them further, because then we punish innovation.
Innovation means things go wrong sometimes and that needs to be OK.
Q: How is AI being used in Bermuda at present
MM: Currently, we have a few clients that use AI, from custom chat GPT models that do different things for them, to customer support bots, to educational tools built into other platforms or software.
The service-based workforce of Bermuda, particularly in hospitality and international business, stands at the precipice of a transformative era.
Artificial intelligence promises unparalleled efficiency and automation, yet concurrently ignites anxieties about job displacement and the very essence of human interaction within these critical sectors.
This opinion argues that while AI presents considerable benefits for both industries, its true value lies in fostering human evolution rather than replacement, redefining service through increased personalisation, collaboration and intellectual exploration.
In the bustling world of hospitality, AI’s potential to streamline operations is undeniable. Chatbots can handle initial guest inquiries, AI-powered concierge services can personalise recommendations and dynamic pricing algorithms can optimise revenue.
This frees human staff from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on crafting bespoke experiences, building genuine connections and delivering the intuitive, culturally nuanced service Bermuda’s hospitality is renowned for.
Imagine guests greeted not just by name, but by their preferred activities and dietary restrictions, curated by AI analysis of their bookings and online profiles. AI becomes a silent partner, augmenting human intuition and hospitality, not replacing it.
Yet, anxieties remain.
Automation of basic tasks could displace entry-level positions, jeopardising livelihoods and exacerbating income inequality. However, this can be mitigated by reskilling and upskilling initiatives.
Bermuda's workforce can be equipped with data analysis, programming, and creative problem-solving skills, enabling them to collaborate with AI and navigate the complexities of the evolving service landscape. This evolution, where humans partner with AI as strategists, designers and experience architects is the true path forward.
Similar scenarios unfold in international business. AI can empower financial analysis, facilitate cross-cultural communication and streamline complex legal processes.
Bermuda's financial services sector can leverage AI to automate know-your-customer/anti-money laundering checks, personalise investment strategies, and predict market trends, augmenting human expertise and enhancing client relations. International business thrives on human ingenuity and adaptability, qualities enhanced, not diminished, by AI collaboration.
However, concerns linger around data privacy and algorithmic bias. Bermuda must prioritise robust data security regulations and AI governance frameworks to ensure transparency and ethical deployment. Algorithmic biases could disadvantage diverse populations and conscious effort is needed to train AI models with inclusive, representative data sets. Only by prioritising fairness and transparency can AI truly empower international business in Bermuda.
In conclusion, AI’s impact on Bermuda's service-based workforce is not a zero-sum game. It presents an opportunity to redefine service, not by replacing humans, but by partnering with them to create a future where augmented intelligence drives personalisation, collaboration and intellectual exploration.
By embracing reskilling, ethical implementation, and a focus on human-AI synergy, Bermuda can leverage AI to elevate its hospitality and international business sectors, positioning itself as a global leader in service excellence for the 21st century. This is not a fight for survival but an evolution towards a service landscape where humans and AI, together, redefine the very meaning of service in Bermuda.
Q: Risks – in a Bermuda context, what do you consider to be the greatest risks posed by AI, and how do we counter them?
MM: The biggest ones are going to be more sophisticated, realistic, phishing attempts.
People trying to get information from you won't be people texting or e-mailing you with bad spelling and grammar.
It might be someone posing as your doctor with their exact name, a nice profile picture of a realistic person with realistic slang. It’ll probably be made to fit your exact demographic.
From there, you might still be suspicious and then they'll send you a video of that doctor in that picture telling you the same thing that was in the message.
The way we can overcome it, is by educating people on how to spot a deep fake, AI-made videos, when something is or isn't true and how to responsibly check the channels.
Q: What are the opportunities and benefits of AI?
MM: Right now we have a big deficit in workshops around education around AI. We need more people in Bermuda teaching and talking about AI.
Q: An article in Forbes said that AI should not be used excessively as too much automation and dependency on machines can create a very hazardous environment for the present human mankind and for the next generation to come. Do you agree and how do we avoid this scenario?
MM: Overly depending on automated AI systems as they are now is definitely a bad idea. Emphasis on “as they are now”.
Things will get much better in the next few months and that may change. For now, we just say monitor the interactions of your bots and verify that it is in fact producing accurate answers consistently. Trust, but verify.
Q: What industries will be most affected – or least affected?
MM: I believe art, entertainment and content creation are all going to drastically change. As tools get more and more readily available, costs are going to drop hugely, which is going to dry up a lot of opportunities.
Q: What will AI look like?
MM: we are fond of making everything in the image of humans. We already had Olivia, who was a humanoid AI robot who they refined to make look more human. We’re going to see a big deviation, and there’s going to be the humanist versus the industrialist approach.
Humanists will make humanoid androids while industrialists will make more efficient machines, less about making it look human. So it’ll drastically differ.
Q: Will we ever stop needing the human touch?
MM: I would say when it comes to speculation, the best answers come from history. Historically, technology has always lead us closer together and to be more connected, just in different ways.
Cell phones made us more secluded and we are more content in our own space. But, then we took cell phones and found a way to connect with everyone in the world all at once, all the time.
Any technology will just lead us closer together. What is your advice to young students and people joining the job market now? I would say that if you are a good candidate for a job, you can be a great candidate for a job by having familiarity with these tools.
If you are an early adopter of this and you move into a role, you can become an indispensable asset by being the one to set these tools up for the business.
If you don't have a competitive edge and you're looking for one, proficiency in generative AI tools, prompt engineering, or any of the other peripheral areas of AI development, that makes you a huge asset in a bunch of different industries.
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