SXSW 2024 Preview: AI Maturity in Focus

This year’s SXSW 2024 has plenty more AI sessions compared to last year, and they show a maturing of the technology. There remains plenty of hype but also a realization of the challenges in scaling the tech. Plus, while there are advances in making AI systems more ethical and responsible, much more work still needs to be done.

Here is a preview of the more interesting sessions at this year’s conference in Austin, Texas, which kicks off tomorrow and runs until March 16:

March 8

12:30 pm – 1:30pm EST

AI & Productivity: A Workplace Love Story?

Is the office becoming a setting for an unlikely romance? We'll examine how generative AI tools streamline tasks, spark creativity, and even offer a sense of 'partnership' that blurs the lines between human and machine. Are we on the cusp of a new type of collaboration, one that fundamentally alters not just how we work, but how we connect with the technology around us?

Speakers:

Paige Bailey, Lead Product Manager for Generative Models at Google DeepMind

Yetunde Dada, senior director of product mgt, QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

3:30pm – 4:30pm EST

How AI Will Change the Way Brands Sell and People Shop

The AI revolution is here, and the retail industry is ripe for an upgrade. As AI develops at a rapid pace, brands must stay ahead of the curve to meet consumers’ growing expectations.

Speakers:

Lilian Rincon, Senior Product Director leading Google Shopping

Danielle Schmelkin, CIO of J.crew

5:00pm – 6:00pm EST

Investing in the Future of AI Infrastructure

The global AI infrastructure market has exploded to over $30 billion in 2023, with expectations of rocketing substantially higher. Join expert investors and executives from Oracle, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and NVIDIA to explore the red hot AI infrastructure trends in 2024 and beyond.

Speakers:

Eleanor Haglund, director, VC Alliance, Nvidia

Saanya Ojha, partner, Bain Capital Ventures

Ishani Thakur, partner  Index Ventures

JD Weinstein, global director, VC practice, Oracle

March 11

11:00 pm – 12:00 pm EST

Breaking the Confidentiality Paradox: A Secure GenAI Roadmap

It is now clear that the future of business will be undeniably intertwined with generative AI. This panel session delves into the complex Confidentiality Paradox of large language models and offers insights, strategies, and solutions to safeguard data in this evolving landscape.

Speakers:

Eiman Ebrahimi, CEO of Protopia AI

Shaun Hillin, global head of solution architecture, Cohere

Reza Piri, founder Productbot AI

Sol Rashidi, CDO, Estee Lauder

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EST

AI and Humanity’s Co-evolution with OpenAI’s Head of ChatGPT

AI is changing us from creators and answerers into curators and askers. In this provocative talk with OpenAI's VP of consumer product and head of ChatGPT Peter Deng, we'll explore the role of humans in the age of AI. What are AI's practical and philosophical implications? How will it change our perception of ourselves? And are we all destined to become prompt engineers or happily unemployed artists?

Speakers:

Josh Constine, consumer VC, SignalFire

Peter Deng, vice president of consumer, OpenAI

2:00pm – 3:00pm EST

Keynote: AMD CEO Lisa Su in Conversation with Ryan Patel

Dr. Lisa Su, chair and CEO of AMD, will discuss the future of AI, how millions of people use AMD-powered services every day, and AMD’s vision to solve the world’s toughest challenges with leading-edge high-performance and adaptive computing.

Speakers:

Ryan Patel, futurist

Lisa Su, CEO, AMD

3:30pm – 4:30pm EST

Artificial General Intelligence: Possibility & Responsibility

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) heralds a new era of science, medicine, energy, creativity, and more. But it’s not a panacea. We have to think deeply about what AGI can or should do, and what it can’t, or shouldn’t do.

Speakers:

Reed Albergotti, tech editor, Semafor

Shane Legg, chief AGI scientist, Google DeepMind

5:00 pm – 6:00pm EST

Why the Future of AI Should be Open

Who has a seat at the table to shape that future of AI? The industry must decide between a small number of companies with a closed vision for AI and a large and diverse group focused on increased cooperation and safety. How can we build a platform for sharing and developing impactful AI solutions? Can we collectively identify and mitigate risks before launching products into the world?

Speakers:

Rebecca Finlay, CEO, Partnership on AI

Dario Gil, director, IBM Research

Joseph Spisak, head of open source, Meta

Ion Stoica, co-founder, Anyscale

March 12

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EST

Rewards and Risks of Multimodal AI

The discussion will revolve around how enterprise accounts differ from consumer accounts; how risk is allocated between developers of AI models and users, and whether this has accelerated the adoption of these tools; OpenAI’s newly released features and their approach to balancing legal risks and user expression when testing and releasing these features; and the current regulations on AI and what impact they have on OpenAI and users.

Che Chang, general counsel, OpenAI

Justin Haan, partner, Morrison Foerster

March 13

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EST

Amazon on the Future of Artificial General Intelligence

Amazon believes AI is the most transformational technology of our time, capable of tackling some of humanity’s most challenging problems. That is why the company is investing in generative AI to responsibly develop and deploy large language models (LLMs) across all of its businesses. These advancements are part of Amazon’s long-term pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Ryan Heath, global technology correspondent, Axios

Vishal Sharma, vice president, AGI at Amazon

3:30pm – 4:30pm EST

Beyond ChatGPT: What Will the Next Generation of AI Bring?

Since the 1960s, NSF has advanced artificial intelligence, from foundational research breakthroughs to products in the marketplace. This session explores the latest AI advancements and applications being developed to address society’s most urgent needs — from improving health care and mitigating the impacts of a changing climate to pandemic prediction and improving agricultural yields while identifying ethical considerations guiding the AI design process.

Jason Borenstein, program director, U.S. National Science Foundation

Tess DeBlanc-Knowles, staff associate for technology policy and strategy, U.S. National Science Foundation

Michael Littman, division director for information and intelligent systems, U.S. National Science Foundation

Amy McGovern, professor, University of Oklahoma

March 14

3:30pm – 4:30pm EST

Industrial Metaverse: Hype or Hope?

While many people associate the term 'metaverse' with a colorful virtual world for entertainment and shopping, the industrial metaverse has the potential to revolutionize the real world in ways that few technologies can – by enabling more efficient and sustainable factories, buildings and cities, and more sustainable products. All the building blocks for the industrial metaverse are already in place, so why aren't we there yet?

Lauren Marble, senior specialist solutions architect, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Lucia Mirabella, head of design and simulation systems, Siemens