[Summer Rewind] Our Top Stories on Artificial Intelligence and GenAI

In this article, you will find our top stories on AI and generative AI and what they will bring to manufacturing and B2B companies. (iStock)

by DirectIndustry

August 12, 20246 mins

Did you miss these insights published this year? Now is the time to catch up. This summer, we offer you the opportunity to discover or rediscover our most-read articles. In this article, you will find our top stories on AI and generative AI and what they will bring to manufacturing and B2B companies.

1/ The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Manufacturing

Fabian Bause, Product Manager at Beckhoff gave us his insights regarding the multifaceted ways in which AI is revolutionizing the manufacturing industry, exploring real-world applications, and envisioning future trends.

“What you have to understand is what artificial intelligence actually is. It is just a method to achieve something, to automate something and processes as well. It is not something that stands on its own, but it is a tool that we can use to automate processes, software and even physical machines.”

2/ What Can AI Bring to Businesses in Terms of Sustainability?

We spoke with Mirko Bromberger, Marketing Director at software provider Altair about what machine learning and AI can bring to businesses, especially for sustainability purposes.

For example, according to him, AI can optimize energy consumption by analyzing data and identifying areas for improvement. AI also helps businesses make informed decisions about sourcing materials, transportation, and logistics. AI enables better recycling and reuse strategies. It can identify opportunities to repurpose materials, reduce waste, and extend product lifecycles.

3/ The Top LLM Providers

GlobalData identified the most significant large language models and says Google ranks as the leader among the top LLM providers.

In their latest “LLMs Competitive Landscape Assessment” report, data and analysis company GlobalData identified the most significant large language models and researched, analyzed, and scored them based on the evaluation of six buying criteria.

The report assesses and ranks the eight leading companies on the strength of their core model technology including context windows, multimodal and multilingual capabilities; vertical and horizontal use cases; AI Guardrails; ecosystem; professional services, and go-to-market strategies.

4/ ChatGPT 4o, Enhanced Performance and Reduced Costs

Last May, OpenAI released a new version of GPT-4: the 4o model, short for “Omni.” This latest model improves the processing of text, images, and audio, both in input (prompt data) and output (generated content). It also boasts better support for languages other than English, all with reportedly improved performance and halved costs.

We asked Sébastien Landeau, CIO of VirtualExpo, what ChatGPT 4o could bring to an e-commerce company. According to him, ChatGPT 4o opens numerous opportunities to optimize VirtualExpo shops’ onboarding process cost and performance.

5/ Using ChatGPT For Free

6/ Should Generative AIs Have Safeguards?

With the development and increasing use of generative AIs, should safeguards also be developed? Last December, Meta launched Llama Guard, a security tool that classifies the safety of LLM prompts and responses, using a taxonomy of risks.

Romain Aviolat, CISO of Kudelski Security, shares his thoughts on Llama Guard and more generally how such tools are important to protect LLMs and ensure their security, accuracy, and ethical behavior.

7/ France’s Plans for AI Evaluation

As AI continues to develop impressive capabilities and integrate into every aspect of our lives, it is crucial to establish its boundaries. In Europe, this responsibility falls to the AI Act, which aims to legally regulate AI within European territory. Additionally, it is essential to implement a system for compliance evaluation and standards. It is essentially a metrology similar to that for any other product. The French Laboratory for Metrology and Testing (LNE) launched LEIA, (the Artificial Intelligence Evaluation Laboratory) to evaluate AI software solutions and physical devices.

Stéphane Jourdain, Head of the Medical Environment Testing Division at LNE, shared insights on his team’s methods to test AI and the major challenges ahead for LNE to become a trusted authority in the field.

He also discussed the new mission set by French President Macron to establish a national AI evaluation center. This new entity will require the development of new metrics and evaluation protocols tailored to the most advanced AI models, especially generative ones.