Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI, Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia and futurist Amy Webb spoke at conferences that marked the 2023 edition of South by Southwest. Here's what we can take away from it.

For more than 30 years, the South by Southwest (SXSW) has established itself as an unmissable and unique foresight festival in the world for the creative industries. Once again this year, the audience was fascinated by a variety of subjects: Web3, artificial intelligence (AI), sustainable development, etc. French Touch was present in Austin and summarizes the three conferences that should not be missed this year.

Amy Webb and the emerging tech trends of 2023

« The internet is changing, and we're not ready. Here is the sentence that we can retain from the speech, always highly anticipated, by Amy Webb. According to the CEO of the Future Today Institute, the development of Web3 and associated technologies must be accompanied by reinforced cybersecurity measures. On the metaverse side, democratization is still awaited since the platforms are still being optimized.

Finally, the biggest change we are going through is the shift from perceptual AI to generative AI. The latter designates artificial intelligences using existing content, in the service of their learning, to generate new ones, like ChatGPT developed by Open AI.

Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI, and the future of artificial intelligence

Greg Brockman was on stage to discuss the impact of generative AI on society and the future of artificial intelligence. According to him, AI is not a threat to employment, but a real tool. " I think what's really interesting here is the amplification of what humans can do. It's a bit like hiring six assistants. They are not perfect. They need to be trained a bit; they don't always know exactly what you want to do. But they are so enthusiastic, they never sleep, they are there to help you. They're ready to do the hard work, and you're the boss. »

An optimism that does not prevent him from remaining lucid on the questions posed by this technology, in particular on the ethical aspect. " We weren't quick enough to address ChatGPT biases. We didn't intend for them to be there. But our goal was really to have a system that was equal and treated all major sites equally. We've made a lot of improvements on this over the past month.. ", did he declare. For the co-founder of Open AI, these questions must be addressed now because AI will impact every aspect of our lives: “ We are clearly moving towards a world where the internet is alive. You can talk to him, he understands you and helps you. »

Ryan Gellert and Patagonia's vision of innovation

« With us, innovation is a series of bold steps says Ryan Gellert. The CEO of Patagonia shared with the audience three strategies that have made his brand a reference in terms of sustainability. According to him, Patagonia started by optimizing the quality of its products, to "aattract the consumer “, before offering their resale on a large scale. But these two strategies could only be implemented thanks to an internal policy favoring innovation. By broadening the field of vision to new technologies, the brand has succeeded in reclaiming natural fibers, designing repairable clothing and even improving collaboration thanks to open source software.

Ryan Gellert is convinced that innovations make it possible to have a positive impact on the planet, which is the responsibility of companies. " Remember the power you have as a customer and as an employee, and make consistent decisions about it. I believe this is the most flattering role you can play in society. “recalled CEO of Patagonia.