Webate discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on the ICT sector

The panel discussion was opened by BusinessOulu's Account Manager Jussi Leponiemi. He spoke about the high expectations that have been placed on generative AI in areas such as productivity, and how we cannot fully predict all of its effects. Change is coming, however, and in part it is already here – generative AI is entering in what we are used to thinking of as human territory.
Ella Peltonen, apulaisprofessori, Oulun yliopisto; Hannu Ripatti, Business Creator, Passi & Ripatti; Pasi Vuorio, Digital Commerce Expert, Freelance

Three experts spoke in the actual panel discussion, all of whom looked at artificial intelligence from a slightly different perspective. Ella Peltonen is an assistant professor at the M3S research unit of the University of Oulu, whose research interests include intelligent everyday systems such as mobile devices, the Internet of Things, and intelligent vehicles. Hannu Ripatti, on the other hand, helps companies and public and third sector actors to develop new business concepts and services, leads workshops, trains, and talks about the use of design methods in business. Pasi Vuorio, in turn, has been building software products for 25 years and is currently envisioning future solutions for several industries using generative AI. Satu Kaleva, coordinator of the Hybrid Intelligence Profi7 theme at the University of Oulu, served as the hostess.

The debate was lively. The experts pondered on the topic from slightly different points of view, but were quite unanimous on many issues. There was a general consensus that artificial intelligence will significantly change the ICT sector and working life in general. The potential is great and there are risks, but as a rule, artificial intelligence was primarily seen as a new tool for experts. Although some jobs will certainly diminish, experts considered it likely that AI will change the old ones and also create new jobs. AI has great potential to enhance and assist, but at least for the time being, an expert is still needed to access, verify and utilise the content generated by AI.

The members of the audience were asked to use the Mentimeter tool to explain what threats and opportunities they see in the spread of artificial intelligence. A total of 52 responses were received. The audience were quite active in other respects as well, and there was a lot of discussion not only in the panel discussion but also in the chat.

You can watch the Webate recording and read the responses given by the audience from the HAiLife project data bank.

Last updated: 6.11.2023