AI's Dilemma: Balancing Incredible Potential with Real Danger

For the past 35 years, Ben Rewis has been a leader in the
development and deployment of cutting-edge enterprise technology
within large financial-services companies. With a renewed passion
for AI, Ben is now advising companies ranging from startups to
global corporations on digital transformation and the massive
opportunities around innovative uses of AI. A surfer buddy of
Cloud Wars Live monthly guest Christopher Lochhead, Ben joins us
today to share some compelling ideas on AI's vast potential for
both good and evil.


Ben starts out by saying he got into working for a big insurance
company, but he eventually relocated from Maine to California to
join VISA – where he ran internet eCommerce services. Then, he
moved to JPMorgan Chase and started looking at the fraud
algorithms associated with real-time transaction processing.


He says as a student of tech, he already sees AI making a big
difference in lots of industries – including healthcare,
automotive, financial services, retail, telecommunications,
manufacturing, etc. He says there are going to be 41 billion
devices and 79 zettabytes by 2025 – and they are all benefiting
from AI.


Ben says he does consulting work for the ag-tech industry. He
says an apple tree has 2,000 blossoms and farmers want to cut it
from 150 – so you don’t get the little golf-ball sized apples,
you get the big, juicy ones. That’s 1,000X transformation – or
10,000X transformation.


Ben says things like miniature drones can be weaponized – and
just like nukes they could get into the wrong hands. He says this
is the most pressing ethical issue we face around safety, and
particularly what war represents for our planet. Ben says there’s
a ton of benefit for humankind, but also a ton of risk.


I tell Ben that an IBM executive, John Kelly, visited the Vatican
– and the Pope – and he spent most of the time discussing the
notion of bias. Ben says that there’s a challenge with ML
systems. They’re not like traditional products and can’t be
conjoined with another dataset. For example, a computer vision
camera producing class one, and another set of cameras producing
class two won’t be the same algorithm.


Ben says he loves working with teams that are doing digital
transformation – whether it’s a Fortune 100 or a startup. He says
he helps teams think through their products and business
strategies, and if it’s a big company looking for transformation
he is happy to do that too.


He says he found technology and wilderness at the age of 17. He
says he found nature to be a really great teacher. Ben says pay
attention to what it means for your kids’ kids, and try to the
leave the world a better place.


His website is benrewis.com.


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