It was exciting to be invited to the annual conference of Project Voice, which took place last month at the Edney Innovation Center in downtown Chattanooga, also home to the country’s fastest internet since 2016.
Project Voice looks at artificial intelligence — but not the traditional AI that analyzes historical data and makes future numeric predictions. Rather, the focus is on conversational and generative AI, terms I hadn’t heard until listening and learning at the conference. Conversational AI can hold two-way interactions with humans by understanding and responding in text or speech. Generative AI can take prompts and create all kinds of new content but is indistinguishable from human-generated content. I started to feel overwhelmed by this new information.
But then I learned that I’m actually a consumer of conversational AI, also called “natural language-based artificial intelligence,” such as I when return products on a website. And I learned that it was generative AI that I’d used to create my video stories for kids, “Bunny Bear Adventures in Diversity Land.” Go figure!
Bradley Metrock, a well-known conversational AI thought leader and CEO of Project Voice, introduced Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly along with EPB’s J.Ed Marston before conference keynote speaker and leading AI ethicist Merve Hickok presented. Hickok serves as president and research director of the Center for AI and Digital Policy in Washington, D.C. The center’s goal is to ensure that the AI world promotes broad social inclusion based on fundamental rights, democratic institutions and the rule of law.
I’m always delighted to hear from women who are leaders in the technology world. And I told her so during a break. Yes, I was an IT director back in the 1980s, but everything has changed since then. I could feel myself trying to digest current ethical issues in light of the breathtaking advancements in technology and the power of AI.