Rethinking Innovation in the Age of AI 
Innovation and AI

/ Rethinking Innovation in the Age of AI 

/ AI, as a general-purpose technology, is transforming industries, similar in impact to previous breakthroughs like electricity and the internet. The integration of AI, particularly generative AI, is empowering innovations across sectors, with notable use cases.

Apr 30, 2024 | by Arjun Aditya, Carsten Linz

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a general-purpose technology, with the potential to transform industries and improve lives. AI is becoming an integral part of the value creation fabric of our societies, industries, and organizations. Its versatility and adaptability make it a powerful tool for innovators, who can harness AI’s capabilities to create solutions that improve efficiency, productivity, and user experiences across sectors. AI-powered medical diagnoses can help doctors detect illnesses earlier and more accurately, while AI-powered transportation systems can optimize routes and reduce traffic congestion. AI innovations are expected to have as big an impact on society as the invention of electricity and the internet, the general-purpose technologies of yesteryear.

The exponential spread of artificial intelligence in the age of generative AI is not only due to the fact that it is a general-purpose technology, but also that AI is becoming widely accessible through new user experiences. Generative AI resides at the intersection of two important technological developments, namely the field of machine and deep learning and the field of natural language processing, which enables new interaction with machines, e.g. through prompt engineering. Since the difference between invention and innovation is successful adoption in the market, it explains why the broad adoption of AI as a cross-cutting technology leads to significant empowerment of subsequent innovations across industries, functions and roles. Our CEO and founder, Carsten Linz, always says that “use cases are the ultimate currency of any successful digital transformation program”. The same holds true for AI, which is one of potentially several technologies along with various data sources with structured and unstructured data that – via a use case – translate into business, environmental or social impact at scale. We recently saw one such use case in terms of Nvidia’s breakthrough in climate technology with its contribution through the Earth-2 platform, which aims to revolutionize weather and climate situations.

The Earth-2 consists of AI-based LLMs like NVIDIA’s FourCastNet and generative super-resolution models like NVIDIA’s CorrDiff. These models can generate high-resolution images 12.5 times faster than existing numerical models while consuming 3,000 times less energy.  One of the key applications of Earth-2 is in typhoon forecasting, where it can help minimize casualties through early evacuations based on precise information. Several organizations and startups have already started using Earth-2’s capabilities to enhance climate tech applications and develop innovative solutions for weather forecasting and analysis on top. For instance, Tomorrow.io, a Boston-based startup, uses Earth-2 AI forecast models to conduct observing-system simulation experiments, OSSEs, to identify the optimal configurations of their satellites and other instruments to improve weather forecasting.

This use case shows that AI is a key enabler, but that an organization’s domain-specific knowledge is the key to success. In the words of Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA: “Everybody is now a programmer. The countries, the people that understand how to solve a domain problem […] now can utilize technology that is readily available to you. You now have a computer that will do what you tell it to do”. With a focus on morally and ethically responsible AI development, companies pave the way for enhanced productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness and capitalize on the potential of this transformative technology.

 

/ ABOUT THE AUTHORS
  • Arjun Aditya is a Digital Marketing Associate at bluegain, where he focuses on digital branding and communications. Before joining bluegain, Arjun worked at Adidas AG on a global transformation project, leading user-centric change initiatives that impacted over 1,000 employees. He also gained experience at Pollup Data Services and A2A Digital Transformation Consulting. Arjun holds a Master’s degree in Digital Business Innovation from Politecnico di Milano.
  • Dr. Carsten Linz is the CEO of bluegain. Formerly Group Digital Officer at BASF and Business Development Officer at SAP, he is known for building €100 million businesses and leading large-scale transformations affecting 60,000+ employees. He is represented on boards including Shareability’s Technology & Innovation Committee and Social Impact. A member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network, Dr. Linz is also a published author who shares his expertise as an educator in executive programs at top business schools.

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