The question that really matters for long-term growth is how to deeply apply AI capabilities to different sectors of the economy to achieve productivity gains that are possible in theory but difficult to transfer into corporate organizational workflows, said the World Economic Forum’s managing director.
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) – Stephan Mergenthaler, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said broad dialogue and cooperation is needed for artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve the expected impact on economies and societies in the future.
Mergenthaler said in an interview with Xinhua that huge investments are being mobilized to build AI-related infrastructure, data centers and frontier models, making AI once again one of the main focuses of leaders gathered at the WEF annual meeting in Davos.
He said that compared to a few years ago, when people’s interest in AI was still driven by curiosity about the capabilities of the technology, people now clearly see the potential applications of AI.
The real question for long-term growth, he said, is how to deeply apply AI capabilities to different sectors of the economy to achieve productivity gains that are possible in theory but difficult to transfer into corporate organizational workflows.
This process cannot be done by the technology sector alone, he said, but requires broad and deep collaboration between different departments and stakeholders.
Regarding the theme of this year’s WEF Annual Meeting, “The Spirit of Dialogue,” Mergenthaler said that dialogue is perhaps even more important in the field of AI technology than in other fields.
“We need broad dialogue and cooperation if we want to see the far-reaching impacts of these technologies on our economies and societies that are expected in the future,” he said.
He believes that assessing the global level of AI development involves three main aspects. One is the infrastructure and computing power, and the energy supply needed to develop that computing power. Second, the spread and application of technology. And third, the readiness of the workforce.
Mergenthaler explained that much of WEF’s work is focused on identifying the most innovative AI application examples and practical experiences from companies that are deploying AI to achieve significant change.
To achieve this objective, the Forum launched a global initiative called MINDS. MINDS, which stands for “Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel and Deployable Solutions,” aims to identify and recognize successful AI transformations that are creating tangible impact, he said.
A new report released during the WEF annual meeting reveals that China accounts for almost half of all solutions currently certified since the launch of the first batch last year.
This shows “strong investment” in AI applications and China’s dynamism in applying AI to solve real-world problems across a variety of sectors, he said.■
