The Best Way to Predict the AI Future Is to Create Copilot Safely

On 1st November 2023, over one hundred world leaders from government, industry, academia, and civil society gathered in the UK to discuss the future of AI that is right here right now in five key themes at the AI Safety Summit with:

• a shared understanding of the risks posed by frontier AI and the need for action.
• a forward process for international collaboration on frontier AI safety, including how best to support national and international frameworks.
• appropriate measures that individual organizations should take to increase frontier AI safety.
• areas for potential collaboration on AI safety research, including evaluating model capabilities and the development of new standards to support governance.
• ideas to showcase how ensuring the safe development of AI will enable AI to be used for good globally.

It is poignant that the UK government chose Bletchley Park for the first international AI conference site. This is where computing started with the creation of Colossus – the world’s first electronic digital programmable computer.

We are hugely grateful to the Bletchley Park de-coders who “cracked” the hostile WWII codes from Germany, Italy, and Japan in thousands of decryption messages. They kept their highly confidential research and facts top secret for 50 years. There is a long and distinguished list of renowned international digital academics who were part of this immense digital war effort. The most famous Bletchley Park employee (sadly infamous) was Alan Turing, OBE. The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national data science and artificial intelligence institute. The UK government paid tribute to his work by printing his image on the reverse of the £50 note, as his vital work was crucial for shortening WWII and saving lives. Also, as an apology for the persecution due to his sexual orientation during the 1950s, which led, it is said, to him tragically committing suicide.

Bletchley Park is located 50 miles from London, and the same leafy, secluded campus is also The National Museum of Computing (tnmoc.org), a poor relation to the Bletchley Park stately home. Still, nonetheless, it is a fascinating place, rammed to the rafters with the world's most extensive collection of working historic computers. This has become a special place to host Collabdays UK.

Let’s not forget how AI has quickly been normalized in our personal lives. We take for granted and no longer question feature efficacy from Google Translate, Chip & Pin, QR codes, and RFID codes, which are all immense time savers. From translating complex international languages to checking out our shopping. With cloud security, you no longer need cash, particularly when traveling. However, there has been a huge increase in shoplifting, and many stores are employing extra security staff, so they might have let go of cashiers but increased new hires in other roles. Equally, the rise and speed of shopping online aided by AI bots have sadly closed many local stores but – hugely increased the need for postal people and delivery drivers pounding the streets.

Here Is a Real Heads-up Email that AI Is Coming by a Real CTO Sent About Six Months Ago to All Employees

They undoubtedly utilized ChatGPT to create the initial draft of their AI policy, then fine-tuned it as appropriate to their business culture. They are on the right track and privileged to have this sensible, visionary leadership approach.

Dear colleagues

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly powerful tool across several industries—ours is no exception as this technology is rapidly evolving. We are actively investigating the potential applications of AI within our firm to improve efficiency, accuracy, and speed in our operations and enhance the services we provide to our clients.

AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are a collection of technologies that can perform tasks that traditionally require human intelligence, such as pattern recognition, data analysis, content creation, visual perception, and language understanding. These tools will empower our employees to drive efficiency and spur innovation.

While integrating AI into our operations can offer significant benefits, we recognize that there are also legitimate concerns associated with adopting AI, such as accuracy, data privacy, bias, and discrimination.

To address these concerns and ensure responsible and ethical AI usage, we are implementing our AI policy that includes the following fundamental principles:

1. Privacy and Security: We will use and share data responsibly, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations and best practices.
2. Fairness: We will strive to minimize biases that AI algorithms may produce and ensure they do not unfairly discriminate against any individual or group.
3. Accountability: We will establish processes to monitor and evaluate the performance and impact of AI systems, making necessary adjustments to align them with our ethical principles and business objectives.
4. Transparency: We will communicate the purpose, capabilities, and limitations of the AI systems we deploy and the data they collect.
5. Education and Training: We will provide our employees with the necessary training and resources to understand and effectively use AI technologies while fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

As an organization, we support and encourage our employees to become familiar with AI as a tool that will benefit them. We understand these tools are readily accessible, and many of you may already use tools such as ChatGPT.

We will collectively benefit from your shared experience, input, and perspective on these impactful tools.

What’s next? In the coming weeks, you will receive further information about our AI initiatives and new services providing broader access to these tools.

We encourage you to embrace this exciting opportunity to support our client’s goals better and create a more innovative, sustainable future together.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns about our AI policy or its implementation. Thank you for being so committed to innovation and excellence.

CTO.

1st November 2023 was also the day Microsoft announced Copilot for Work. Over the past few months, every time I look at LinkedIn, I see an MVP in my peer network proudly completing Copilot training or a Microsoft Partner offering Copilot training.

Before Copilot was announced, my role was to help customers prepare for M365, Teams, and Viva. Now, with the addition of Copilot features, focus on digital literary upskilling with adoption and change management. Nothing has changed. Microsoft has created an excellent Copilot Adoption Hub where you can:

• Prepare for Copilot. This blog provides an overview of Copilot, shares technical details, and how you can prepare for it.
• Join the Copilot community. Get an inside look at how large language models (LLMs) work when you use them with your data in Microsoft 365.
• Learn how Copilot works. The Microsoft 365 Copilot community is your hub for the official blog, latest news, and discussions.

There are 5 Learning Pathways to follow by role: Business User, Leader, Adoption Manager, IT Professional, and Developer. I followed the Copilot Adoption Manager training here Copilot for Microsoft 365 – Microsoft Adoption. I found this site and the courses easy to navigate, engaging, and enjoyable.