Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly prevalent part of business worldwide, including in the Dominican Republic. This was examined during the discussion titled “The promise of generative artificial intelligence: Transforming the Dominican reality.” This talk received sponsorship from Altice Dominicana and was part of the Santo Domingo Chamber HUB 2024 event.
The event kicked off with a speech by José Gabriel Pérez, Altice’s B2B sales director. He emphasized the enhancement in efficiency and capability of AI-based technologies provided by the 5G network. He also discussed the company’s expanding infrastructure in the Dominican Republic, which has been occurring since 2022.
MIT Ph.D. holder and Harvard University’s postdoctoral fellow Saillant explained that businesses must act promptly and decisively to exploit the potential benefits of emerging AI technologies.
“Capitalizing on AI will become pivotal and an incredible asset for businesses. It will allow them to stand apart from their competitors,” stated Saillant during his talk.
The instructor noted the groundbreaking nature of these programs’ human language processing capabilities, allowing us to communicate with them in our language without the need for programming language proficiency.
AI usage in Business
There is a myriad of tasks in businesses where AI can have a significant impact or enhance efficiency. Among these are optimizing customer service, which is often used in e-commerce platforms with the assistance of chatboxes that simulate human conversations.
In addition, AI can help produce tailored content like articles, letters, or topic summaries. For such purposes, ChatGPT is the most commonly utilized tool. Other essential applications include business process automation, decision-making enhancement, and developing innovative products.
In his presentation, Saillant mentioned specific industry applications of AI to support production processes. An example of this is the Tourism and Hospitality industry which frequently resorts to AI programs to generate customer experience optimization ideas.
Agriculture and Construction are other sectors reaping AI advantages. Particularly, AI is helping to streamline operations and increase productivity by its use in construction project and agricultural operation resource planning.
Limitations
Despite its crucial role in optimizing business operations, Saillant cautioned about AI limitations. Since AI is an ever-evolving field, some drawbacks need to be acknowledged.
Among these is the risk of over-reliance. Saillant admonishes, “AI tools can be beneficial, but they shouldn’t be considered the sole source of truth.” He also broaches the issue that AI programs can produce flawed data. Hence, the accuracy of the data should always be critically assessed.
Unfair bias is another concern, as AI can recapture human biases present in the training data, leading to erroneous conclusions.
Conclusion and Commitment
In closing his presentation, Saillant highlighted the vast potential of AI to positively reshape the economy. However, thoughtful and responsible usage is key to successful implementation. AI should be used in a way that respects and amplifies our unique human qualities.
“Employing AI should ensure that our defining human traits not only endure but flourish in the digital age.,” stated Saillant. He describes a centaur model where AI and humans amplify each other’s strengths.
According to Saillant, human-AI teams outstrip humans working solo. He elaborated on this, saying that human-AI teams combine human intuition and creativity with the precision and processing power of AI.
Altice Dominicana sponsored the discussion “The promise of generative artificial intelligence: Transforming the Dominican reality” as part of the sixth HUB Cámara Santo Domingo 2024. This was organized by the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production and featured a comprehensive three-day agenda with discussions, conferences, and business networking sessions.
About Altice Dominicana
Altice Dominicana is a leading telecommunications company in the Dominican Republic with 10 years’ experience in providing connectivity, content, and entertainment services. It offers coverage across 98% of the nation through its mobile network and high-speed internet of up to 1,000 MB, cable television, and high-definition voice services across over 4 million homes and businesses. It strives for innovation through an agile team committed to providing technology access to drive the growth of Dominicans.
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