Latest news with #genAI
Tahawul Tech
a day ago
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
South Korea looks to address legal uncertainties posed by GenAI
The data protection watchdog for South Korea recently put forth a proposed personal data processing criteria for generative AI (genAI). The goal of these guidelines is to addressing the uncertainties in their existing personal information protection act. Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPS) chair Ko Haksoo Ko noted the guidelines aim to 'provide clarity to iron out legal uncertainties that AI practitioners have encountered and systematically incorporate privacy-safeguarding perspectives'. The proposal incorporates legal interpretation and safeguards criteria, as well as details how to develop AI privacy governance centred on a chief privacy officer, responsible for internally supervising compliance and privacy risk management. The draft criteria divides the lifecycle of genAI into four stages: purpose setting; establishing strategies; AI training and development; and application and management. It also classifies genAI models in three categories: LLM as a service, off-the-shelf LLMs and self-developed LLMs. PIPS explained the guidance was finalised following consultation with a public-private policy advisory council, providing businesses with concrete measures for making use of personal data to be trained on genAI. Earlier in the year, the commission ordered app stores to suspend downloads of DeepSeek's AI platform, sparked by concerns over the Chinese start-up's data management practices. Source: Mobile World Live Image Credit: Stock Image
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AIG hires new chief digital officer
American International Group (AIG) has appointed Scott Hallworth as its new chief digital officer, effective 1 September 2025. Hallworth will be tasked with steering AIG's digital, data and generative AI (genAI) strategy, with an emphasis on scaling genAI throughout the organisation. Joining AIG from Hewlett Packard, Hallworth brings expertise in technology and financial services. His previous roles include chief data officer at both HP and Capital One. Additionally, he has a background in insurance and risk management, evidenced by his experience at Travelers, where he worked as senior vice-president and chief actuary. Upon joining AIG, Hallworth will be integrated into the executive leadership team and will operate out of New York. Hallworth will initially report to Claude Wade, who currently holds the position of executive vice-president, chief digital officer and global head of Business Operations & Claims. Wade will step down from his existing position and move to an advisory role at the end of the year to address health concerns. AIG chairman and CEO Peter Zaffino said: 'I want to thank Claude for his tremendous contributions to AIG during his tenure and the lasting impact he has had on our company. 'His leadership in driving enterprise standards in our global operations, along with establishing our data, digital and AI foundation has been profound, and we will benefit from Claude's work for years to come.' Hallworth will report directly to Zaffino from 1 January 2026. Zaffino stated: 'Scott Hallworth brings a deep, technical background in digital, genAI and actuarial capabilities to AIG. He is an accomplished leader with broad expertise, supported by over 30 years of experience leading enterprise-wide digital and data strategies across the technology, banking and insurance industries.' This move follows the appointment of John Neal as the president of AIG's General Insurance organisation, effective 1 December 2025. "AIG hires new chief digital officer " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Companies are pouring billions into AI. It has yet to pay off.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Corporate spending on artificial intelligence is surging as executives bank on major efficiency gains. So far, they report little effect to the bottom line. Nearly four decades ago, when the personal computer boom was in full swing, a phenomenon known as the 'productivity paradox' emerged. It was a reference to how, despite companies' huge investments in new technology, there was scant evidence of a corresponding gain in workers' efficiency. Today, the same paradox is appearing, but with generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI). According to recent research by McKinsey & Co, nearly eight in 10 companies have reported using Gen AI, but just as many have reported 'no significant bottom-line impact'. AI technology has been racing ahead with chatbots such as ChatGPT, fuelled by a high-stakes arms race among tech giants and super-rich startups, and prompting an expectation that everything from back-office accounting to customer service will be revolutionised. But the payoff for businesses outside the tech sector is lagging behind, plagued by issues including an irritating tendency by chatbots to make stuff up. That means that businesses will have to continue to invest billions to avoid falling behind – but it could be years before the technology delivers an economy-wide payoff, as companies gradually figure out what works best. Call it the 'gen AI paradox,' as McKinsey did in its research report. Investments in Gen AI by businesses are expected to increase 94 per cent in 2025 to US$61.9 billion (S$79.5 billion), according to IDC, a technology research firm. But the percentage of companies abandoning most of their AI pilot projects soared to 42 per cent by the end of 2024, up from 17 per cent the previous year, according to a survey of more than 1,000 technology and business managers by S&P Global, a data and analytics firm. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore I want to divorce my husband and be a single mother: More victims speaking up on emotional abuse World Trump drops Ukraine ceasefire demand after Putin summit Singapore Buying hope: Inside S'pore's love affair with the lottery Singapore She won big in Genting, but getting $240k winnings back to Singapore was dicey Opinion Confessions of a born-again Singaporean Business Manage your household finances like a business for clarity, say entrepreneurs Business Silence does not work when dealing with job loss blues Singapore Singapore congratulates Indonesia on 80th Independence Day Projects failed not only because of technical hurdles, but often also because of 'human factors' like employee and customer resistance or lack of skills, said S&P Global senior analyst Alexander Johnston. Gartner, a research and advisory firm that charts technological 'hype cycles', predicts that AI is sliding towards a stage it calls 'the trough of disillusionment'. The low point is expected next year, before the technology eventually becomes a proven productivity tool, said Gartner chief forecaster John-David Lovelock. That was the pattern with past technologies such as personal computers and the internet – early exuberance, the hard slog of mastering a technology, followed by a transformation of industries and work. The winners so far have been the suppliers of AI technology and advice. They include Microsoft, Amazon and Google, which offer AI software, while Nvidia is the runaway leader in AI chips. Executives at those companies have bragged how AI is reshaping their own workforces, eliminating the need for some entry-level coding work and making other workers more efficient. AI will eventually replace entire swaths of human employees, many predict, a perspective that is being widely embraced and echoed in the corporate mainstream. At the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, Mr Jim Farley, chief executive of Ford Motor, said: 'Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the US.' Whether that type of revolutionary change occurs, and how soon, depends on the real-world testing ground of many businesses. 'The raw technological horsepower is terrific, but it's not going to determine how quickly AI transforms the economy,' said Mr Andrew McAfee, a principal research scientist and co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Initiative on the Digital Economy. Still, some businesses are finding ways to incorporate AI – although in most cases the technology is still a long way from replacing workers. One company where AI's promise and flaws are playing out is USAA, which provides insurance and banking services to members of the military and their families. After several pilot projects, some of which it closed down, the company introduced an AI assistant to help its 16,000 customer service workers provide correct answers to specific questions. USAA is tracking its AI investments, but does not yet have a calculation of the financial payoff, if any, for the call centre software. But the response from its workers, the company said, has been overwhelmingly positive. While it has software apps for answering customer questions online, its call centres field an average of 200,000 calls a day. 'Those are moments that matter,' said Mr Ramnik Bajaj, the company's chief data analytics and AI officer. 'They want a human voice at the other end of the phone.' That's similar to an AI app developed more than a year ago for fieldworkers at Johnson Controls, a large supplier of building equipment, software and services. The company fed its operating and service manuals for its machines into an AI program that has been trained to generate a problem summary, suggest repairs and deliver it all to the technician's tablet computer. In testing, the app has trimmed 10 to 15 minutes off a repair call of an hour or more – a useful efficiency gain, but hardly a workplace transformation on its own. Fewer than 2,000 of the company's 25,000 field service workers have access to the AI helper, although the company is planning an expansion. 'It's still pretty early days, but the idea is that over time, everyone will use it,' said Mr Vijay Sankaran, the chief digital and information officer at Johnson Controls. The long-term vision is that companies will use AI to improve multiple systems, including sales, procurement, manufacturing, customer service and finance, he said. 'That's the game changer,' said Mr Sankaran, who predicts that shift will take at least five years. Two years ago, JPMorgan Chase, the nation's largest bank, blocked access to ChatGPT from its computers because of potential security risks. Only a few hundred data scientists and engineers were allowed to experiment with AI. Today, about 200,000 of the bank's employees have access to a general-purpose AI assistant – essentially a business chatbot – from their work computers for tasks such as retrieving data, answering business questions and writing reports. The assistant, tailored for JPMorgan's use, taps into ChatGPT and other AI tools, while ensuring data security for confidential bank and customer information. Roughly half of the workers use it regularly and report spending up to four hours less a week on basic office tasks, the company said. The bank's wealth advisers are also employing a more specialised AI assistant, which uses bank, market and customer data to provide wealthy clients with investment research and advice. The bank says it retrieves information and helps advisers make investment recommendations nearly twice as fast as they could before, increasing sales. Ms Lori Beer, the global chief information officer at JPMorgan, oversees a worldwide technology staff of 60,000. Has she shut down AI projects? Probably hundreds in total, she said. But many of the shelved prototypes, she said, developed concepts and code that were folded into other, continuing projects. 'We're absolutely shutting things down,' Ms Beer said. 'We're not afraid to shut things down. We don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's a smart thing.' Mr McAfee, the MIT research scientist, agreed. 'It's not surprising that early AI efforts are falling short,' said Mr McAfee, who is a founder of Workhelix, an AI consulting firm. 'Innovation is a process of failing fairly regularly.' NYTIMES
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Blue J secures $122m Series D funding for AI tax platform
Blue J, a generative AI (genAI) tax research platform, has raised $122m (C$168.26m) in a Series D funding round led by Oak HC/FT and Sapphire Ventures. The funding round also included participation from Intrepid Growth Partners and previous investors Ten Coves Capital and It will be used to support Blue J's efforts to expand its team, enhance product development and increase market reach. Blue J's platform uses genAI to provide answers to complex tax questions across US federal, state and local tax, as well as Canadian and UK tax law. Built on a curated database of authoritative tax law, Blue J's system improves by learning from millions of user queries each year. Blue J CEO and co-founder Benjamin Alarie said: 'We are thrilled to partner with Sapphire Ventures, Oak HC/FT, Ten Coves, and Intrepid Growth Partners – firms with exceptional track records of backing market-defining companies. 'Their commitment is a powerful endorsement of our vision to transform tax research. With this capital and industry support, we will accelerate innovation and deliver even greater value to tax professionals. We are building the future of tax. This is just the beginning.' Blue J's interface is designed to allow users to ask tax questions conversationally, without the need for complex syntax. The platform delivers answers with relevant source citations. Oak HC/FT partner Allen Miller said: 'Tax research has long been a cumbersome, time-consuming task. Blue J has solved this challenge with an elegant AI solution that dramatically accelerates research while raising the bar for accuracy. 'We believe Blue J will become the new standard for complex tax questions – and we are proud to support Ben and the team in their next stage of growth.' Blue J said that its revenue and customer base more than doubled in the first half of 2025. The Series D round follows Blue J's December 2024 Series C. Since January 2025, Blue J has grown to over 80 employees and more than doubled its rate of new customer acquisition, the company said. Earlier this year, collaborated with Blue J to provide companies of all sizes with access to an AI-powered tax research solution. "Blue J secures $122m Series D funding for AI tax platform " was originally created and published by International Accounting Bulletin, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal Reserve economists aren't sold that AI will actually make workers more productive, saying it could be a one-off invention like the light bulb
A new Federal Reserve Board staff paper concludes that generative artificial intelligence (genAI) holds significant promise for boosting U.S. productivity, but cautions that its widespread economic impact will depend on how quickly and thoroughly firms integrate the technology. Titled 'Generative AI at the Crossroads: Light Bulb, Dynamo, or Microscope?' the paper, authored by Martin Neil Baily, David M. Byrne, Aidan T. Kane, and Paul E. Soto, explores whether genAI represents a fleeting innovation or a groundbreaking force akin to past general-purpose technologies (GPTs) such as electricity and the internet. The Fed economists ultimately conclude their 'modal forecast is for a noteworthy contribution of genAI to the level of labor productivity,' but caution they see a wide range of plausible outcomes, both in terms of its total contribution to making workers more productive and how quickly that could happen. To return to the light-bulb metaphor, they write that 'some inventions, such as the light bulb, temporarily raise productivity growth as adoption spreads, but the effect fades when the market is saturated; that is, the level of output per hour is permanently higher but the growth rate is not.' Here's why they regard it as an open question whether genAI may end up being a fancy tech version of the light bulb. GenAI: a tool and a catalyst According to the authors, genAI combines traits of GPTs—those that trigger cascades of innovation across sectors and continue improving over time—with features of 'inventions of methods of invention' (IMIs), which make research and development (R&D) more efficient. The authors do see potential for genAI to be a GPT like the electric dynamo, which continually sparked new business models and efficiencies, or an IMI like the compound microscope, which revolutionized scientific discovery. The Fed economists did cautioning that it is early in the technology's development, writing 'the case that generative AI is a general-purpose technology is compelling, supported by the impressive record of knock-on innovation and ongoing core innovation.' Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, the authors said genAI has demonstrated remarkable capabilities, from matching human performance on complex tasks to transforming frontline work in writing, coding, and customer service. That said, the authors said they're finding scant evidence about how many companies are actually using the technology. Limited but growing adoption Despite such promise, the paper stresses that most gains are so far concentrated in large corporations and digital-native industries. Surveys indicate high genAI adoption among big firms and technology-centric sectors, while small businesses and other functions lag behind. Data from job postings shows only modest growth in demand for explicit AI skills since 2017. 'The main hurdle is diffusion,' the authors write, referring to the process by which a new technology is integrated into widespread use. They note that typical productivity booms from GPTs like computers and electricity took decades to unfold as businesses restructured, invested, and developed complementary innovations. 'The share of jobs requiring AI skills is low and has moved up only modestly, suggesting that firms are taking a cautious approach,' they write. 'The ultimate test of whether genAI is a GPT will be theprofitability of genAI use at scale in a business environment and such stories are hard to come by at present.' They know that many individuals are using the technology, 'perhaps unbeknownst to their employers,' and they speculate that future use of the technology may become so routine and 'unremarkable' that companies and workers no longer know how much it's being used. Knock-on and complementary technologies The report details how genAI is already driving a wave of product and process innovation. In healthcare, AI-powered tools draft medical notes and assist with radiology. Finance firms use genAI for compliance, underwriting, and portfolio management. The energy sector uses it to optimize grid operations, and information technology is seeing multiples uses, with programmers using GitHub Copilot completing tasks 56% faster. Call center operators using conversational AI saw a 14% productivity boost as well. Meanwhile, ongoing advances in hardware, notably rapid improvements in the chips known as graphics processing units, or GPUs, suggest genAI's underlying engine is still accelerating. Patent filings related to AI technologies have surged since 2018, coinciding with the rise of the Transformer architecture—a backbone of today's large language models. 'Green shoots' in research and development The paper also finds genAI increasingly acting as an IMI, enhancing observation, analysis, communication, and organization in scientific research. Scientists now use genAI to analyze data, draft research papers, and even automate parts of the discovery process, though questions remain about the quality and originality of AI-generated output. The authors highlight growing references to AI in R&D initiatives, both in patent data and corporate earnings calls, as further evidence that genAI is gaining a foothold in the innovation ecosystem. Cautious optimism—and open questions While the prospects for a genAI-driven productivity surge are promising, the authors warn against expecting overnight transformation. The process will require significant complementary investments, organizational change, and reliable access to computational and electric power infrastructure. They also emphasize the risks of investing blindly in speculative trends—a lesson from past tech booms. 'GenAI's contribution to productivity growth will depend on the speed with which that level is attained, and historically, the process for integrating revolutionary technologies into the economy is a protracted one,' the report concludes. Despite these uncertainties, the authors believe genAI's dual role—as a transformative platform and as a method for accelerating invention—bodes well for long-term economic growth if barriers to widespread adoption can be overcome. Still, what if it's just another light bulb? For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
