To prepare ourselves slowly, but surely, for the approaching CES 2024, we discussed artificial intelligence with the boss of the Las Vegas show. The latter wants legislation in the field, but finding the right balance so as not to hinder innovation.
It will probably not have escaped your notice that generational artificial intelligence has been on the rise since 2022. From ChatGPT to Google Bard via Midjourney and Bing Creator, the notion of AI is on everyone’s lips. Obviously, in continuity, the year 2024 should experience the same enthusiasm.
However, for the new technology sector, each year begins with a major event: the CES show which brings together thousands of people and which sets the tone for important future trends in innovation. Thus, AI was a central subject during our discussion with Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) who organizes the American show.
A CES 2024 under the sign of AI
Gary Shapiro was present in Paris at the end of September to participate in FDDay 2023, a large event dedicated to startups. Attention spoilers : AI will be a priori omnipresent at CES 2024.
Let us resituate the character a little. Gary Shapiro has been the head of CES since 1982. For more than 40 years, he has held a privileged position in observing developments at the show. However, the leader has also built a solid reputation as a lobbyist in the world of Tech, speaking recently at the United Nations and meeting several heads of state. In 2021, President Emmanuel Macron named him a knight of the Legion of Honor.
As CES 2024 approaches, the manager therefore inevitably had two or three things to say about artificial intelligence.
Legislation and innovation
“Last January, we were already starting to talk about generative AI“, he says. “But it was still early. We didn’t realize how quickly it was going to be adopted.“. This goes without saying, but Gary Shapiro confirms it for all intents and purposes: “it’s pretty clear that artificial intelligence will be one of the dominant themes of CES 2024“.
He also indicates that, according to a survey carried out by his teams among French journalists, out of a list of fifty subjects, AI is the one which arouses the most interest. However, as we have said, CES sets the tone for future innovations and trends. In other words, if you have the impression that the subject of artificial intelligence is already very present in the news, this feeling should intensify in the coming months and years.
Alright. That said, a well-defined legal framework is required. As we have seen, artificial intelligence can generate erroneous information and false images that can be misleading. There are also a whole bunch of questions related to the world of work: can AI replace certain jobs? What about the potentially shocking — or even illegal — content that these tools could expose to Internet users, particularly minors? What moderations can and should be applied?
So many eminently ethical questions come into play when we are interested in AI since it promises to turn everything upside down. “As a representative of the tech industry in the United States, I believe our position is not to oppose any government’s legislation“, explains Gary Shapiro.
“We need it to know what is legal and what is not legal, so that safeguards are in place“. Between the lines, we can therefore understand that, in the eyes of Gary Shapiro and contrary to what we can sometimes hear from certain companies, the fact that the State sticks its nose in is not a brake on ‘innovation. However, he insists on the importance of finding a good balance.
Don’t reserve AI for big companies
“What concerns me is that if we rush and establish general rules that apply to everything, we risk stifling major innovations», confides Gary Shapiro.
So I think we need the cooperation of public authorities and to find the balance between the possibility of innovation and the need not to reserve AI for the largest companies which can afford to meet all the requirements of authorities. We must also allow startups to get started, because AI will make it possible to create new businesses.
A fairly logical speech for the boss of the most important Tech show in the world. At CES 2024, as in previous editions, the number of startups seeking to make themselves known will inevitably be gigantic. Our interlocutor has every interest in showing them his support. “We are a platform that allows innovators to meet investors and journalists, potential partners, distributors», he says.
He goes so far as to assert that an overzealous desire to regulate artificial intelligence out of conservatism is “a recipe for economic disaster“.
Innovate to solve everything?
This conversation with Gary Shapiro allows us to put our finger on a thorny question that continues to be debated: is technological innovation necessarily an answer to all concerns? The boss of the CES, with several nuances obviously, will tend to answer you yes.
He believes, for example, that AI can bring a lot to the medical field and compensate for the shortage of staff in hospitals. He makes the same kind of speech on the improvements that artificial intelligence would allow, on initiatives aimed at reducing the environmental impact of companies or certain sectors of activity.
There is therefore a lot of optimism that some will not share, particularly regarding artificial intelligence which arouses legitimate fears among certain workers. This is evidenced by the demonstrations by screenwriters in Hollywood where, among other professional demands, the threat of AI to the preservation of certain jobs was an important issue.
Gary Shapiro and CES 2024 will be keen to show what new technologies and AI can bring to improve living and working conditions. We hope to discover a plethora of relevant solutions there.