By Cameron Roberts, Sydney Strategy Lead, Ryvalmedia
–
The buzz on the first day of full events was palpable, multiple rooms were full. People were queuing for a glimpse at extremely smart and passionate people talk about the future and the implications for us.
Day 2 started at Seven House, with a big line to see Kellie Nuttall from Deloitte and Lucio Ribeiro from Seven try to help separate the truth of Generative AI from the noise. It was always going to be a central topic at the festival, but the conversation has accelerated quickly. Nuttall who’s been working in the space for over a decade, said that before March this year no-one on executive boards wanted to talk AI, now it’s on the agenda of every organisation.
Of all the revenue from Open-AI (the creators of ChatGPT), a massive 80% of this comes from start-ups. Large organizations struggle with the challenges posed by their size in implementing AI, but as Nuttall told the audience, firms that have invested in a strong data capability are well-positioned to drive consistent differential returns.
For those that use AI in their jobs, it’s hard to imagine going back. Stats shared by Nuttall show 5 hours a week is saved for people that have ChatGPT in their workflow. At the same time there is apprehension by people that do, with only 70% of employees openly telling their employers that they use ChatGPT in their jobs.
The disruption is like a wave, we’re likely at the crest of its hype in culture for now, but there will be lasting impacts. It still feels early to separate the noise from the truth.
I was told by SXSW veterans that there will be talks you’ll miss out on due to demand, and I experienced that for my planned 11:30 talk. It did give me an opportunity to be 2nd row back from one of the most popular speakers at SXSW, Amy Webb, CEO of the Future Today Institute.
Webb lived up to her reputation, with great insights. ‘The thing happening in AI is money…when this much money is flowing into something, the commercialisation of it, people will expect returns…no-one is taking a measured approach and being a pragmatist.’
Is AI going to be the next trillion-dollar industry? Even if it lives up to the hype, like the internet, it will undulate. The internet wasn’t an overnight success. The dot com bubble is in most delegates living memory. And there are negative externalities from new technologies that will need to be addressed.
Measured pragmatism was in full display for the final session of my day, Alex Zaccaria from Linktree, Mina Nada from Zoomo (formerly Bolt Bikes) and Mark Bouris from Yellow Brick Road discussed the roadmap and milestones to scaling a start-up.
In the current venture capital climate, it’s harder to raise. The opportunity is, if you’ve got a great business, there’s no chance that an average business can raise a bunch of cash and figure it out along the way. This is a moment of equalisation. And as technology advances new businesses and changes in human behaviour, these new parameters in the economy will create a lot of signals.
My first full day of SXSW was the right kind of forum to help separate signal from the noise.