Global leaders of the technology sector this week spelt out a future in which they contribute to a better world — and help to run it.
The word “responsibility” was repeated constantly during the annual CES expo in Las Vegas, the year’s biggest launch pad of new consumer technology products.
The gadgets on display from 4,000 exhibitors were overshadowed by keynote addresses from the CEOs of major corporations such as Intel, LG, Qualcomm, Walmart and Hyundai.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger spelt out a vision of a more responsible tech sector, particularly in the face of consumer suspicion of AI. “Technology is moving faster than products, products move faster than business, and business moves faster than regulation,” he said.
The underlying principle is that we should use technology to serve people, not the other way around.
— Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO
“So regulation is always trying to catch up to the implications of technology. As we have a broader and broader influence and the world is going more digital, it becomes more incumbent upon us, as technologists, to be engaged in the policy discussions on the regulatory frameworks, so that we help close that gap, so that regulation is in place to support this ever-growing pace of technology.”
Gelsinger acknowledged public concerns about AI, and the need for the technology sector to address the factors underlying those concerns. “We’ve got to make it open, we’ve got to make it accessible, we have to make it explainable, we have to make it responsible. Every day we’re not doing that we open up domains that people shouldn’t trust. And we should get challenged.
“So, making AI, as we say at Intel, ‘AI everywhere’, but doing so through open technology access.” The requirement, he said, was that anyone should be able to look behind the curtain that tends to hide the workings of AI and other technology.
“That’s always the key: ‘Can I look inside? How did it make those decisions?’ And until we can answer those questions, show how it was good for society, how it met the regulatory domains and demonstrated consistent good, we shouldn’t let it in the wild.”
His comments were echoed in a different context by William Cho, CEO of LG Electronics, which every year has one of the biggest displays of current and new consumer technology at CES. “We are all facing a historic turning point and we at LG are all thinking about what our role and responsibility should be,” said Cho.
“LG’s focus lies in how AI can make a difference in the real world, providing a tangible benefit to our customers. At LG we’d like to redefine it as ‘affectionate intelligence’, because we fundamentally believe that AI should foster a customer experience that is more caring, empathetic, and attentive.”
The number of new tech products unveiled at the CES expo in Las Vegas.
— IN NUMBERS: 10,000
Cho outlined the differentiation of LG’s AI solutions, based on its capacity to harness vast amounts of data from the up to 700-million LG products in use worldwide. Many of these are smart devices equipped with AI-supported sensors that are optimised to learn and analyse users’ “physical and emotional” life patterns in the real world, rather than based on internet data gathered by large language models such as ChatGPT and Google Bard.
“We have a unique opportunity to leverage real, live data gathered from smart devices,” said Cho. “Of course, with your explicit permission.”
Even the world’s largest physical retailer, Walmart, took to the CES stage to reiterate its commitment to responsible use of technology. CEO Doug McMillon warned business leaders that they were at “a fork in the road” with regard to the use of technology.
“One path is to completely prioritise technology to maximise what’s possible without considering potential implications. The view is that if we can use technology to do something, it’s inevitable that it’ll happen, so we should just go fast and exploit what’s possible. [The other path is] one where the benefits of technology are pursued, but people are considered along the way.
We have observed a shift in what South Africans are willing to spend, with increased interest in electronics that seamlessly integrate with off-grid power solutions, and a focus on energy efficiency without compromising quality or performance.
— Jinkook Kang, LG Electronics South South Africa
“We have observed a shift in what South Africans are willing to spend, with increased interest in electronics that seamlessly integrate with off-grid power solutions, and a focus on energy efficiency without compromising quality or performance.”
“The underlying principle is that we should use technology to serve people, not the other way around. We love what technology can do, but we’re building it in a way that creates better careers at the same time. It creates better customer experiences and a stronger business.”
The Consumer Technology Association, organiser of CES, estimates that about 150,000 people attended the event this week. More than 10,000 new products were launched or demonstrated — and many of them will trickle through to South Africa.
Jinkook Kang, subsidiary president of LG Electronics South Africa, told Business Times that the local office was continuously evaluating its product offering. “While the launch dates of these new products in South Africa have not been confirmed yet, the company anticipates enhancing its TV and audio line-ups, introducing exciting new additions to home appliances and monitors,” he said.
“With a record-breaking 33 CES 2024 Innovation Awards earned this year, the introduction of the latest products will certainly captivate the South African consumer.”
Kang said the outlook for consumer electronics in South Africa reflected the global scenario, with “declining demand for specific categories and pressure on the supply chain”.
“In South Africa, the company endeavours to grow by leveraging high-quality innovative products, enriching the product range and consistently improving the service offering to elevate the customer experience. The key challenge of market demand uncertainties for specific categories is influenced by economic pressure on consumers.
Tech giants place their bets on the AI chip
PC and microchip companies struggling to get consumers to replace pandemic-era laptops offered a new feature to crowds at the annual consumer electronics show CES this week: artificial intelligence (AI).
PC and chipmakers including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel are betting that the so-called “neural processing units” (NPUs) now found in the latest chip designs will encourage consumers to once again pay for higher-end laptops.
Adding additional AI capabilities could help take market share from Apple.
“The conversations I’m having with customers are about how they get their PCs ready for what they say is coming in AI,” said Sam Burd, Dell Technologies’ president of PC business. Chipmakers built the NPU blocks because they can achieve high performance for AI functions with relatively modest power needs.
Today there are few applications that might take full advantage of the new capabilities but more are coming, said David McAfee, corporate vice-president and general manager of the client channel business at AMD.
Among the few applications that can take advantage of such chips is the creative suite of software produced by Adobe. Intel hosted an “open house” where a handful of PC vendors showed off their latest laptops with demos designed to put the new capabilities on display. Machines from the likes of Dell and Lenovo were arrayed inside one of the cavernous ballrooms at the Venetian Convention Centre on Las Vegas Boulevard.
A Dell laptop at the open house included an AI key, the first button Microsoft has added to a Windows keyboard in decades. The “Copilot” key activates Microsoft's generative AI software that can help with applications and answer complicated questions.
At the moment, the new button summons a cloud-based Copilot, which takes a noticeable amount of time to perform tasks. “If I put those engines on the PC, I can be faster, with lower latency, and I can do more with those engines,” Burd said.
To move Copilot onto the PC will require considerably more powerful machines than exist now — even with the advanced AI chips. For the moment, the new chips are included with more expensive laptops on offer by the PC builders that work with Intel and AMD.
“In the short term, we’ll be focused more on premium PCs,” said McAfee, adding that PCs with advanced AI chips are likely to cost $800-$1,200 (about R15,000- R23,000).
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