Change is in the air. Or is it disruption?
They’re not the same thing. Change happens slowly and involves gradual iterations, innovations, and evolutions. The independent main street movie theatres are gone – now they’re multi-plexes with full meals and reclining seats. But you still buy tickets, sit in rows, get the large popcorn and watch on a big screen.
Disruption is so big and powerful, there’s no going back and no catching up for those left behind. Disruption is what Netflix did to movie rentals. No late fees, no limits, you don’t even leave your house.
I’ve been exploring disruptive technology over the last two years in both my Elevated Conversations Dinner Party Series and via my podcast I’m a Millionaire! So Now What? (listen & subscribe here.)
It’s not just me. I attended a number of development events in October and disruption, as well as the exceedingly fast pace of change today, was a common thread throughout all three events. The same topics kept coming up: technology, digitization, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity. All defining elements of this Fourth Industrial Revolution.
I heard a fascinating presentation at the RBC Women’s Symposium by Dr. Fotenia Agrafioti, Chief Science Officer and Head of RBC Research at Borealis AI.
Her work at Borealis AI, backed by RBC, is enthralling enough to keep bright minds in Canada when not all that long ago entire research groups were being lured to silicon valley.
Her current work is in the field of deep learning – building computers that learn by example and inference, beyond the scope of programming and code. This is some of the technology that’s now being used to find patterns and detect fraud, like picking up on unusual credit card purchases.
Dr. Agrafioti introduced us to the Netflix documentary Alpha Go. Alpha Go chronicles how a particular AI system learned to play the card game Go. Traditional machine learning starts with feeding a computer a set of rules or protocol. In Alpha Go, the AI wasn’t coded to play, nor given any rules on the best ways to play. In this deep learning case, the AI observed the game being played and learned how to play ‘intuitively’. Spoiler alert: In the human vs AI game, guess who won?
I was fascinated to learn that in collaboration with RBC Capital Markets, they’re already developing AI to trade intelligently. The algorithm is still imperfect; practice runs shows that AI made MOSTLY mistakes initially. But after just three months the technology ‘grew up’ from a baby state to a typical adolescent making more and more good decisions. Dr. Agrafioti predicts their AI could be trading autonomously within a year.
So obviously the question pops up… does that put me out of work? I’m not worried. My clients are human, and AI can’t replace the emotional and relationship element. That’s where humans helping humans STILL have an advantage.
You might also remember Polly, the political prediction AI I introduced you to last year.
When I interviewed Advanced Symbolics CEO Erin Kelly on I’m a Millionaire! So Now What? we discussed how amazingly accurate Polly’s predictions were before Brexit, the 2016 US elections, and the 2018 Ontario Provincial Elections, too.
If this intrigues you, listen to Erin Kelly on TVO just after the October 21st Canadian National Election. You can even follow Polly now on twitter (@Polly_ASI). I wonder how Polly’s increasingly accurate predictions will start to impact our choices…
I don’t doubt that AI has the potential to find strategies and solutions to our world’s biggest challenges. I imagine applications for health care, education and financial management. But, like for any invention, we need to consider values and ethics alongside. AI, like all things created by humankind, has the potential for wrongdoing. One area that’s under surveillance is bias in data. AI works off vast amounts of data. If the data itself has embedded cultural or gender biases, then the results and outcomes it produces will be biased. This is a work in progress. I am hopeful; yet still cautiously observing, researching, and using the technology that has adopted AI.
Watch your inbox next week; I’m going to expand on some thoughts I’ve presented on cybersecurity as we survive and thrive during this Fourth Industrial Revolution.
How are you managing change and disruption? What do you see as the threats or opportunities of these new technologies? I’d love to know. You can contact me directly through email at colleen.campbell@rbc.com.
Of course I’d love you to subscribe to I’m a Millionaire! So Now What? now with two new episodes a week - every Tuesday and Thursday.
And if you’re looking for a wealth management team with a fresh perspective on building and strategizing financial plans that optimize how you spend, save & share your wealth, contact us anytime at O’Connell-Campbell Wealth Management.