Two weeks ago I attended the final installment of the conferences for D.I.C.E, called GetDigital 2018. This conference dealt with the many advantages and disadvantages in the world of Artificial Intelligence. The Conference took place on the 10th of April in the Helix in Dublin City University. We had only two speakers at this Conference as we had to present the D.I.C.E gamification project that we had been working on over the year to academic staff and industry experts before the Conference. The speakers for GetDigital 2018 included Clare Dillon ( previously worked with Microsoft ) and Conor Cullen (Project Manager in IBM Waston Health). Clare spoke to us about the many bad things that can go wrong in A.I. and gave us tips on how to be ethical in A.I. & Conor spoke to us about all the good work being done in A.I.

The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence according to Clare Dillon: 

Clare was our first speaker of two at the GetDigital Conference. A little background on Clare, up to six months ago, Clare worked for Microsoft for nine years. One of her main roles in Microsoft was working with developers. She was also a key member of the Microsoft Ireland Leadership Team for 8 years, during which Microsoft transformed from a software product to a cloud service organization.  Clare has over 20 years’ experience in Leadership Development, Business Strategy, and Technology Evangelism. ( Clare Dillon/LinkedIN, 2018)

Clare spoke to us today about the potential hazards of Artificial Intelligence and how we can avoid these from happening. Such potential hazards she spoke about include: not using A.I. in the right scenario, lazy algorithms can introduce bias, not testing for diverse customer scenarios, failing to prevent malicious use, training datasets can be biased and unintended uses of A.I.

Tips for Ethical AI: 

Clare gave us some great tips on how to use A.I. ethically and in a responsible way. She split up her tips into four separate headings: (1) Tips for Planning (2) Tips for Getting Started (3) Tips for Building (4) Tips for After Launch.  I thought Clares tips were excellent as they were clear and concise.

Tips for Planning:

• Decide where you are on the Ethical Continuum.
• Connect AI Implementation to a valid business case – Why, What, Where, When…
• Determine measures of Success & Failure.
• Determine whether to use Open A.I.

Tips for Getting Started:

• Hire a diverse team.
• Educate yourself and your team.
• Build a risk mitigation Plan (think of them ahead of time)

Tips for Building:

• Track Datasets.
• TEST!! Check by means of a DDD Test which is made up of  “Dumb test”, “Despot Test” and the “Doomsday Scenario”.

Tips for After Launch:

• Keep testing
• Monitor Usage Scenario
• Be Transparent as by telling us the consumers where its weaknesses are and where its strengths are.

Conclusion:

I found Clares’ presentation to be very good, even though she spoke about the possible dangers/hazards of A.I, she still believed AI has an important role in our future only if we use it correctly and efficiently. The tips/ advice Clare gave us about how to act in an ethical manner when using A.I. was excellent. They were very clear and concise & were easy to understand. According to Adobe, jobs requiring A.I. has increased 450% since 2013, that is HUGE! (Towards Data Science, 2018) This just shows how the world around us is changing, new types of jobs are being created every day due to advances in such areas as A.I. Clares’ tips might be important for me in the future as I might be working in a field that may require interaction with A.I.

An Optimistic view of A.I. by Conor Cullen:

 

 

Conor Cullen was our second and final speaker of the day at the Get Digital Conference. A little background on Conor, he is currently the A.I. Product Development Manager at IBM Watson Health since June 2016. Some of his roles at IBM Watson Health include Identifying opportunities to improve customer experience across products with Artificial Intelligence technologies & Leading multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, researchers and business experts developing demonstrable solutions on the transformative impact of A.I. (Conor Cullen|LinkedIN, 2018)

Conor spoke about the many benefits A.I. systems will have on the healthcare system like Casual Intelligence, which is making software a little more smarter, a little more transparent and a little more easier to use. The outcome of casual intelligence on the healthcare system is that solutions get better. At the start of the presentation, Conor reiterated what Clare had said about the hazards of A.I. but he believed that if we use them correctly that these hazards can be avoided. During the presentation, he spoke about the 3 key principles that IBM Waston Health bring to all projects, they are (1) Purpose- it has to have a purpose and help humans.(2) Transparency- enhance the firms business model (3) Skills- it has to allow individuals that are using it to acquire new skills  He finished up the presentation by pointing out that A.I. has one aim and that is to lead to a better outcome for individuals.

Mundane Tasks left to A.I.:

Conor spoke about how IBM Waston Health was making systems that would take care of mundane work such as admin work (Waston Care Manager). This meant humans could concentrate on the tasks which we are good at. This would free up more time for humans to complete these tasks which then means they will be able to help more people as they are not stuck doing the mundane tasks.

Narrow A.I. is what IBM is working on:

IBM Waston Health is working on Narrow/ Weak A.I. which is using A.I. in a specific field where you are looking at it to solve a specific problem such systems that you would know of that does this is Google Translate and driverless cars.

Conclusion:

I thought Conor spoke very well about how the world of A.I. has its many benefits to humans such as leading to a better outcome for individuals and doing all the mundane/ admin jobs. I really enjoyed listening to Conor, as it has allowed me to believe that there is a positive future in the world of A.I. and that maybe one day I could be making an impact on society by working on one of these A.I. systems.

My Experience and Learning from this Conference:

Again I have learned a great deal from this conference about the world of A.I. and about its many hazards and benefits. I have taken away some great advice on how to ethically use an A.I. system that I may be able to use in the future if I am lucky enough to work on one of these exciting systems

As this is going to be my last blog, I would like to thank you for reading my blogs over the last couple of months and I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed attending the conferences. If you have any questions about this blog, please feel free to Contact me.

Bibliography :

• Clare Dillon| LinkedIN (2018).  Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claredillon/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
• Towards Data Science. (2018). 15 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stats You Need to Know in 2018. [online] Available at: https://towardsdatascience.com/15-artificial-intelligence-ai-stats-you-need-to-know-in-2018-b6c5eac958e5 [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
• Conor Cullen| LinkedIN (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cullenconor/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
• 2018.nc4.ie. (2018). NC4 is under construction. [online] Available at: http://2018.nc4.ie/speaker/conor-cullen/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].

Last week I attended another conference called GetSocial 2018, the difference between this conference and the last was that GetSocial’s aim was to raise knowledge of the role social media can play in business.(GetSocial, 2018) This conference took place on the 13th of February in the Helix in Dublin City University. Again the staff in DCU had lined up a great array of speakers across many spectrums of the social media world and business world, these included Brian Higgins (CEO of Pieta House whose aim is to reduce the need for their service and possibly eradicate suicide), Paul Berney from mCordis, Steve Conlon who is the Account Director in LinkedIn, Kathy Scott ( Founder and Creative Director of an organization called Trailblazery), Luis Franco who is the MD EMEA at Survey Monkey ( an online survey generator company), Aideen Burke ( works in the intellectual property and commercial team at LK Shields) and finally, Ian Campbell (a DCU graduate whose is Head of Digital at Havas Media here in Ireland). Not all speakers spoke about mobile marketing but rather on various dimensions of the Digital media world such as Aideen, who spoke about the issues that may arise when coming up with marketing strategies such as defamation and Ian who gave us an insight into the fast-growing and always changing Media Agency.

Brian Higgins, a criminologist turned CEO:

Our first speaker of the day was Brian Higgins who is the Chief Executive Officer of Pieta House (a non-profit organization), their main aim is to significantly reduce the need for their service and eradicate suicide. Before Brian became part of the team in Pieta House, he worked with the Missing Persons UK who ran an event called “The Big Tweet” on the 25^th of May every year which helps find children who are missing by ramping up the media coverage about them through social media platforms and with the help of famous people such as Simon Cowell. The last year Brian worked with them (2015), they found 6 missing children that day in the UK.

Brian then went on to talk about the difficulties that Pieta house face as their company isn’t about profit margins, competition or brand loyalty. He also talked about their flagship event Darkness into Light which takes place every year and last year alone raised over €4.5 million with over 180,000 people taking part across 4 continents in 12 countries at 145 venues.  Their aim for this year’s event is to have over 200,000 people taking part in the event at 180 venues, that’s a big undertaking for any organization to achieve especially when it is taking place all over the world.

Source: Wicklownews.net

 

Here is a great article from 2014 about DIL, it has grown so much since then.

Peer-to-Peer funding is the way forward:

According to Brian, this is the way forward as “people fund people, not causes”. This brings in the emotional appeal to their cause as people ask others for help/sponsorship rather than an organization asking which might not be heard. Peer to Peer fundraising is a multi-tiered approach to crowdfunding. This means individuals can create personal fundraising pages for your cause’s behalf. This can feed revenue back to your organization as a whole, or to a specific campaign you’re running. Either way, the individual shares his or her page with friends, family and community members for the donation.(Best practices, tips, and fundraising ideas for nonprofits, 2018)

Establishing a Global view:

Pieta House had to find injection sites that would get into communities around the world, they decided to use the GAA and the Rose of Tralee as they were high structure societies which were deeply embedded in the Irish communities and societies not only on Ireland. They also partnered with appropriate agencies in various countries to ensure suicide is dealt with across the world and not only in Ireland, they have done this by leaving 50% of their proceeds behind to these agencies.

Conclusion:

Listening to Brian speak about Pieta House has given me great hope for a future world with no suicide, I know it will be very hard to completely eradicate it, but all their work will definitely help. The Darkness into Light campaign is a great initiative that they have, I have never done it before, but I will definitely be doing it this year. I have also learned some great ways of getting your view or organization out in the global market like establishing injection sites as its important to be able to embed your organization in communities as without them you cannot succeed.

Ian Campbell, an Insight into Media agency:

Ian was the final speaker of the day. He started off by telling us how proud he was to be back here in DCU where he did an MSc in e-commerce in 2011. Ian is now the Head of digital in Havas Media Ireland where the focus is on performance. Havas media deliver a wide range of connected planning and buying capabilities in all forms of media communication.(Havas, 2018) Havas Media have 8,500 employees globally in 120 + countries, they have a growth of 60% year on year.  Ian explained to us that he would be giving us an insight into Media Agency, he talked about the Irish Media Landscape, Attribution and Campaign planning. From listening to what he said about these, I have learned a great deal about the media agency and the importance it has on businesses.

A perspective of Media Agency:

1. Irish Media Landscape:

Ian talked about how it used to be so easy compared to nowadays, as it has become more complex (2.5 billion + are socially connected in the world). Ian gave us great advice about media such as “get your basics in order”, that paid media comes at the end & digital media has a bright future ( 13% spend increase each year)

2. Attribution:

It is the science of determining what media are driving purchases. (Perez and Perez, 2018) Ian talked about how tricky it is and how it will benefit society as it helps drive sales. He also mentioned that Data Driven Attribution was the way forward, this really stuck with me, not because of the attribution but rather the data end of it, nearly all speakers at the conference spoke in some way about the importance of Data in the future for organizations.

3. Campaign Planning:

I found this part of his discussion the most interesting as he gave three bits of solid advice for when you are going to run a media campaign in the future- 1. Know your audience ( what their needs and wants are) 2. Choose the right medium ( choose a medium that will get through to your intended market segment, for example, the best way to get through to the younger market is by is through mobile marketing ) 3. Set appropriate goals and more importantly, set them at the start.

Conclusion:

Listening to Ian has allowed me to understand the media agency a bit more than before and has even made me want to possibly explore job opportunities in media for myself when I graduate here in DCU. He has also allowed me to grasp the fact the world around is always moving forward through many new social media platforms and that it is important to be aware of the vast amounts there is, as not knowing what your desired market is using, will mean your organization is not fully reaching their sales potential.

Link to Havas Media

Paul Berney, an advocate of the Connected Marketer:

Paul was the second speaker of the day and was the speaker who I enjoyed the most. A little bit of background on Paul, he is the founder of mCordis which offers education and advisory services on digital marketing. He has spoken at over 500 events so has plenty of experience at talking to large crowds.

The Connected Marketer:

Paul talked to us about a concept called “The Connected Marketer”, which is the more connected devices there are the more constantly we are connected, and the more constantly connected we are, the more our behavior changes which then means that we are in more of a state of connectedness. This all leads rise to the connected marketer.

How can organizations benefit from this? In order for organizations to benefit from the connected marketer they must manage 4 tasks:

1. They must build understanding– know what the consumer’s needs, wants and frictions are.
2. They must enable the consumer– allowing them to do what they want by using the right type of language like normal everyday language that consumers can understand and relate to.
3. Remove barriers to engagement– make it easier for consumers to do business with them by knowing what the consumers look for in the type of product they are selling.
4. And finally, Be of Service– be personal to each customer by using the data you have on that individual and personalizing their experience.

Conclusion:

All of what Paul said in his discussion made sense, as a consumer on digital platforms, everything he said is what I look for when I am purchasing items or services online. Being from the countryside and living near a small village where everyone knows each other, I can relate to the emotional side his argument of personalization and be of service. I like the way I can walk into the local shop and be known by my name and being felt as a valued customer. If my experience on digital platforms was the same as it is in my local shop, it would be great and I would definitely buy more online.

Steve Conlon, a touch of advice from LinkedIn: 

Steve was the third speaker of the conference, he spoke mainly to us about LinkedIn. Steve is the Account Director in LinkedIn Ireland. He told us that there Vision was “create economic opportunity for every member of the workforce”. According to Steve the reasons behind LinkedIn were: advance one’s career, stay connected and informed & work smarter. This must be working as there are 547 million members (Steve told us).

Advice on how to optimize LinkedIn Account:

Steve gave us some great advice on how to get full use out of LinkedIn account in finding job opportunities:

1. Target the Right people: He told us about how to target the people in the field in which we intend to possibly get a job in the future, by doing such things as following such people and expanding our network.
2. Create Opportunity: Build a great profile- invest time in yourself and your profile. He also told us to ensure our summary included what you are looking for and to draft this on a regular basis.

Conclusion: 

Listening to Steve has allowed me to come to the realization of how important a good LinkedIn page is as there are over 20 million Companies on it (that’s huge!!). The day after this conference I made a LinkedIn account and worked hard to ensure it looked professional and included everything he said should be in it.

My Experience and learning from this Conference:

I have learned a great deal from this conference about Social Media and it has definitely enticed me to maybe look for a job in this field in the future as it is very interesting. I have taken away some great advice from this event, these would include 1. Have a great profile on LinkedIn. 2. To make sure that what you put on social media platforms doesn’t harm others because you can be done for defamation. 3. To always keep up to date with what is going on in the world and be willing to keep up with change.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog about GetSocial 2018.If you have any questions about it, please feel free to contact me.

Bibliography:

• Get Social. (2018). About – Get Social. [online] Available at: http://getsocial.ic4.ie/about/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• Get Social. (2018). Speakers – Get Social. [online] Available at: http://getsocial.ic4.ie/speakers/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• Niamhlouisefoundation.com. (2018). Tyrone to host Darkness Into Light awareness and fundraising event for the first time » The Niamh Louise Foundation – Suicide Support Group – Coalisland, Cookstown & Richhill – Hand someone a feather today. [online] Available at: http://www.niamhlouisefoundation.com/2015/04/tyrone-to-host-darkness-into-light-awareness-and-fundraising-event-for-the-first-time/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• WicklowNews (2018). 80,000 people walk in solidarity for suicide prevention. [online] WicklowNews. Available at: http://wicklownews.net/2014/05/80000-people-walk-in-solidarity-for-suicide-prevention/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• Best practices, tips, and fundraising ideas for nonprofits. (2018). What Is Peer-to-Peer Fundraising?. [online] Available at: https://www.classy.org/blog/what-is-peer-to-peer-fundraising-2/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• Havas. (2018). What We Do – Havas Media. [online] Available at: http://www.havasmedia.ie/what-we-do/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• Perez, D. and Perez, D. (2018). What is Marketing Attribution?. [online] Convertro. Available at: https://www.convertro.com/faq/what-is-marketing-attribution [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
• Anon, (n.d.). 6 LinkedIn Recommendations for Software CEOs | LinkedIn. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141104200557-764902-linkedin-for-software-ceos [Accessed 26 Feb. 2018].
• Creativebrief.com. (2018). Creativebrief – Paul Berney – Chief Marketing Officer & Managing Director of the EMEA branch of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).. [online] Available at: http://www.creativebrief.com/bite/issue/paul-berney/256 [Accessed 26 Feb. 2018].