AI - another THINK coming in London Midtown 2019

Ever wondered where AI could take your business next?

Finding the next big thing with AI is exciting. So on a freezing and rainy November day in London we met up with a warm crowd in Chancery Lane and presented to the London Midtown business club on the future of AI and where it’s heading next. The room was full of passionate scientists, lawyers, bankers, developers and accountants and we debated what AI is, what the challenges are in implementing AI in your organisation and how to get started.

Vik from Bristows LLP discussed some of the reputational and data protection issues you may encounter. Tony Smee and Anne Campbell from Slingsby Partners explored who owns the IP when AI is involved and even more interestingly what happens when AI itself is the inventor.

The opportunities and challenges with AI

The future and present possibilities of AI are exciting. We showed real life examples of where AI is already being used today. We also explored what data and human challenges you might come across when trying go implement AI or getting started on an AI project.

For a more in-depth review of this topic and a copy of our presentation visit our how to article on how to move forward faster with AI.

How much do we really know about AI?

Vik gave a fantastic overview over a recent survey conducted by Bristows LLP on the issue of AI reputation. One of the insights was that people in general have very superficial and limited knowledge on AI and aren’t aware that AI is already being used today. Fear of job losses abounds so there is much work to be done by the industry to raise awareness of AI and to be more transparent on when and how AI is being used.

What happens if AI is inventive?

Anne and Tony from Slingsby partners, a firm that specialises in Patent Law, talked us through the intellectually interesting issue of who owns an invention or a patent when AI is involved. Very recent case brought some definite answers by stating that it’s the developers who get the credit as inventors and not the AI itself. As AI becomes smarter and potentially self aware, we should keep watching this space though.

AI - another THINK coming?

Speaker	Job	Key points	Twitter handle
Richard Coope	Founder of Brightful	Richard is excited by the possibilities of AI and talked us through some real life examples	@richardcoope
Julia Scanlon	Think Lead at Brightful	Julia loves a challenge and was talking through the data and human challenges you might encounter when starting out on an AI project	@youliatweets
Vikram Khurana	Senior Associate at Bristows LLP	Vik explained the reputational and perception issues that Bristows uncovered in a recent survey and talked us through some of the data protection issues they come across in their practise.	@vik_khurana
Anne Campbell	Director and Patent Attorney	Anne talked us through the requirements for AI to qualify for a patent.
Tony Smee	Director and Patent Attorney	Tony explained what the law has to say on inventions where AI co-creates and then revealed the latest case law on what happens if AI invents.

What we took away from AI – another THINK coming

AI is still in its infancy and there are many misconceptions on what AI is and how it’s being used. We also had some fiery and passionate debates on the issue of governance and safety around AI and how global initiatives are required to ensure that AI is being used in a safe way for good.

Like Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, who is currently championing with his For the Next Web initiative for the establishment of a new global contract for the web – the Brightful team feel strongly about this issue and think that more governments and initiatives are required to raise awareness and safety.

So whilst there are still many obstacles to overcome before we have self-aware walking robots among us, the possibilities with AI today are abundant and exciting. Here at Brightful we specialise in helping businesses move forward faster with AI by helping them define what problem they should be solving with AI right now and how to go about it. The future is brightful. Let’s sprint to that!