Digit, a humanoid built by the US firm Agility Robotics, demonstrated how far AI has come in a few years by responding to voice commands - filtered through Google's Gemini AI model - to sift through a pile of coloured T-shirts and place them in a basket.
It wasn't a seamless demo, but the enthusiastic response to the display reflected the excitement about all things AI, nearly two years on from the launch of ChatGPT, that pervaded the exhibition halls at Europe's biggest annual tech conference.
Talk of a bust in the AI boom couldn't be heard over the shouts of encouragement for Digit as it pondered different shades of garment. If we're in an AI bubble, there was still evidence it was inflating in Lisbon.
Nonetheless, there were voices of caution too, on familiar themes such as safety, jobs and the climate, as AI comes to influence a huge range of industries. Here are some of the discussion points about AI from the event.
Job security A key debate around AI and employment centres on displacement and replacement. If millions of jobs are going to be displaced by AI in developed economies, will they be replaced by new roles for humans as the technology creates fresh opportunities?
On the displacement side, the possibility of entry-level jobs becoming casualties of displacement was raised often. Attenders talked about these jobs being affected in professional industries such as law, finance and even tech because AI tools, particularly so-called AI "agents" that can carry out tasks autonomously, will be able to do relatively simple work such as initial checking of contracts or handling queries from potential new clients.
This story is from the November 16, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 16, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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