Using AI for good
Artificial intelligence is changing the world as we know it.
Summary
Throughout history, new technologies have been introduced to make life easier. From the printing press to computers and smartphones, we’re capable of achieving more with advanced tools. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to do the same.
Working with clients, we’re using AI to devise innovative solutions across different industries and in regions around the world.
Picture a world where technology can scan your plate and calculate how much your meal costs in seconds.
It’s not a futuristic fantasy – it’s another day in the Deloitte London office canteen. Our new AI-powered check-out is transforming lunchtime as we know it.
From facial biometrics to unlock our phones to recommendations on what to watch on streaming platforms, AI has quietly made its way into our everyday lives.
It’s a technology that has largely been in the background, subtly transforming our experiences over the past few years, until the topic of generative AI went viral in mainstream media at the end of 2022.
For anyone in the dark about it, generative AI uses existing data on the internet to create new content, such as images, videos, text or even music.
“Generative AI has captured the imagination of UK citizens and fuelled discussion among businesses and policymakers,” says Paul Lee, partner and head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte.
“Within just a few months of the launch of the most popular generative AI tools, a quarter of people in the UK have already tried out the technology. It is incredibly rare for any emerging technology to achieve these levels of adoption and frequency of usage so rapidly.”
According to Deloitte’s 2023 Digital Consumer Trends research, around four million people in the UK have already used generative AI tools for work.
The latest insights from the Summer 2023 Fortune/Deloitte CEO Survey
79% of CEOs
believe generative AI will increase efficiencies
55% of CEOs
are evaluating and experimenting with generative AI
52% of CEOs
believe generative AI will increase growth opportunities
37% of CEOs
are currently implementing generative AI in their business
AI is a hot topic and lots of businesses are excited by it. We are too. But it’s important to think about what we want the relationship between humans and AI to look like.
“With all the buzz around generative AI, it can be difficult to separate hype from reality and to understand the multitude of different ways in which it will create value for companies and for society,” explains our chief AI officer Sulabh Soral.
“Here at Deloitte, we’ve been market leaders at the intersection between technology, innovation and industry since our inception. Through successive waves of technology-led disruption, we’ve enabled organisations both big and small to successfully manage and exploit new technologies as they progress from science fiction to business-as-usual.”
As part of our ongoing work in this space, we recently launched the Global Generative AI Market Incubator, in conjunction with Deloitte’s AI Institute. Delivering early-stage proofs of concept and rapid prototypes in generative AI, it will help to secure opportunities with clients in different geographies.
While there are many potential benefits to using AI, Joanna Conway, partner and internet regulation lead at Deloitte Legal, reminds us about the importance of using it ethically:
“Governments, policymakers and regulators are looking to tap into the potential of AI, while also managing its risks. As more lives and jobs are impacted by AI, the technology must be trustworthy, ethical and as accurate as possible for all of its benefits to be felt.”
How are businesses using AI?
Working with clients all over the world brings fantastic opportunities to explore how it can be used in real life to make progress on some of today's biggest issues.
AI moves fast and, what we learn on one project, we can take on to the next.
Here are just a few examples of how we’ve supported clients with AI solutions with the potential to support people and the planet.
Healthcare
AI is helping to identify patient symptoms using natural language processing techniques (NLP). This speeds up the referral time, allowing patients to receive their results faster, also relieving pressure on clinicians and freeing up their time for other useful activities.
Protecting intellectual property
Today’s digital marketplace has enabled the copycat market to thrive, which can damage livelihoods, profits and innovation. Deloitte Legal’s AI-powered IP protection tool, Dupe Killer, is helping to spot copycats, searching online for products that have key features of original designs.
Crisis response
Population displacement arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine strained NGO capacity to handle and respond to calls for help. Browser-accessible, built on cloud and automated by AI, IRENA (Immediate Refugee Need Assistance), the intelligent virtual contact centre, helped NGOs scale their contact centres and support thousands of Ukrainians across Europe.
Climate change
Merging AI, the internet of things (IoT) and virtual and augmented reality, Deloitte's digital-twinning technology creates a digital replica of real-world objects or systems. It's been used to support work to tackle climate change by decarbonising.
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Getting started with AI?
Discover the five important things our chief AI office Sulabh thinks we should know about AI.
For a thought-provoking listen on the potential of AI and some of the things to watch out for, listen to our podcast: Can AI help us be more human?
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