KEY CONCLUSIONS:
- AI as an attractive investment opportunity
“In terms of efficiency, artificial intelligence will bring about major improvements. <...> I have resolved that, in the near term, the fundamental development strategies of Caspian VC Partners, the venture fund I established, will focus on investments in vehicles promoting the artificial intelligence technologies,” said Ziyavudin Magomedov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Summa Group.
- AI: enhancing security and quality of life
“Computers are much better than humans at utilising vision. <...> Roughly 4,000 people today are scheduled to die in car accidents. When autonomous driving is made widely available, that will not be the case any more,” said Gustavo Sapoznik, Chief Executive Officer, ASAPP Inc.
“Artificial intelligence helps us determine how we spend our attention. One example of that is what articles we read and what information we get exposed to. Through things such as recommendations and other platforms we will get exposed to new ideas <...> and ultimately spend our attention in a smarter way,” said Noah Goodheart, Founder Of Moat Inc.
- AI as a driver for economic transformation
“Digitisation is one thing that will help Russia transform very quickly, with artificial intelligence being an essential driver of that transformation. <...> In order to ensure accelerated economic development and technological leadership in the realms of both research and application, Russia needs to harness the new technologies,” said Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
- Superintelligence is the next step in the evolution of AI
“The emergence of superintelligence in 30 years from now is an overly optimistic scenario. The forecasting horizon of some 80–100 years looks more realistic,” said Ziyavudin Magomedov.
- Prospects of the artificial and human intelligence merger
“A friend of mine proposed the idea of a merger of human organic intelligence and artificial computer intelligence and has been working in a lab with animals to make it work <...> We would not be Homo sapiens any more, it is the beginning of the speciation,” said Shervin Pishevar, Co-Founder, Sherpa Capital and Hyperloop One.
CHALLENGES:
- A dramatic shift in the labour market and a threat of mass unemployment
“I’m going to touch on the sort of the elephant in the room, which is job loss. It is one of the questions that keep recurring when we talk about the AI,” said Fraser Robinson, Head of Business Development, EMEA, Uber Technologies Inc.
- Growing cyber threats
“People love to talk about safety and security. <…> What if the world’s cars get hacked? What if the world’s nuclear missiles get hacked? There are real concerns. I think that the investment that business is making into the world of security, software and resistance is incredibly important,” said Fraser Robinson.
- The threat of AI coming out of human control
“The change that we are going to see over the next few decades is going to be so exponential to our lives and to our world, that it is hard for the human brain to really fathom the massive implications. <…> Some people believe that AI is an existential threat,” said Shervin Pishevar.
- Ethical challenges for AI
“Self-driving automation is an application of that kind of artificial intelligence. <…> If a mother walks into the street with a baby carriage and an old woman is walking with a cane, and the car has one choice, which choice does it make? If it can’t swerve out of the way of one of them, then it has to decide to actually hit one of those humans,” said Shervin Pishevar.
- Insufficient tech penetration in Russia
“Technology is not deeply rooted in our daily lives. Some of the Russian innovations are reproduced and used elsewhere in the world, but do not quite take hold in our own country,” said Igor Shuvalov.