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AS PUPILS AND students return to classrooms and lecture halls for the new year, it is striking to reflect on how little education has changed in recent decades. Laptops and interactive whiteboards hardly constitute disruption. Many parents bewildered by how their children shop or socialise would be unruffled by how they are taught. The sector remains a digital laggard: American schools and universities spend around 2% and 5% of their budgets, respectively, on technology, compared with 8% for the average American company. Techies have long coveted a bigger share of the $6trn the world spends each year on education.

When the pandemic forced schools and universities to shut down, the moment for a digital offensive seemed nigh. Students flocked to online learning platforms to plug gaps left by stilted Zoom classes. The market value of Chegg, a provider of online tutoring, jumped from $5bn at the start of 2020 to $12bn a year later. Byjus, an Indian peer, soared to a private valuation of $22bn in March 2022 as it snapped up other providers across the world. Global venture-capital investment in education-related startups jumped from $7bn in 2019 to $20bn in 2021, according to Crunchbase, a data provider.

Then, once covid was brought to heel, classes resumed much as before. By the end of 2022 Cheggs market value had slumped back to $3bn. Early last year investment firms including BlackRock and Prosus started marking down the value of their stakes in Byjus as its losses mounted. In hindsight we grew a bit too big a bit too fast, admits Divya Gokulnath, the companys co-founder.

If the pandemic couldnt overcome the education sectors resistance to digital disruption, can artificial intelligence? ChatGPT-like generative AI, which can converse cleverly on a wide variety of subjects, certainly looks the part. So much so that educationalists began to panic that students would use it to cheat on essays and homework. In January 2023 New York City banned ChatGPT from public schools. Increasingly, however, it is generating excitement as a means to provide personalised tutoring to students and speed up tedious tasks such as marking. By May New York had let the bot back into classrooms.

Learners, for their part, are embracing the technology. Two-fifths of undergraduates surveyed last year by Chegg reported using an AI chatbot to help them with their studies, with half of those using it daily. Indeed, the technologys popularity has raised awkward questions for companies like Chegg, whose share price plunged last May after Dan Rosensweig, its chief executive, told investors it was losing customers to ChatGPT. Yet there are good reasons to believe that education specialists who harness AI will eventually prevail over generalists such as OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and other tech firms eyeing the education business.

For one, AI chatbots have a bad habit of spouting nonsense, an unhelpful trait in an educational context. Students want content from trusted providers, argues Kate Edwards, chief pedagogist at Pearson, a textbook publisher. The company has not allowed ChatGPT and other AIs to ingest its material, but has instead used the content to train its own models, which it is embedding into its suite of learning apps. Rivals including McGraw Hill are taking a similar approach. Chegg has likewise developed its own AI bot that it has trained on its ample dataset of questions and answers.

What is more, as Cheggs Mr Rosensweig argues, teaching is not merely about giving students an answer, but about presenting it in a way that helps them learn. Understanding pedagogy thus gives education specialists an edge. Pearson has designed its AI tools to engage students by breaking complex topics down, testing their understanding and providing quick feedback, says Ms Edwards. Byjus is incorporating forgetting curves for students into the design of its AI tutoring tools, refreshing their memories at personalised intervals. Chatbots must also be tailored to different age groups, to avoid either bamboozling or infantilising students.

Specialists that have already forged relationships with risk-averse educational institutions will have the added advantage of being able to embed AI into otherwise familiar products. Anthology, a maker of education software, has incorporated generative-AI features into its Blackboard Learn program to help teachers speedily create course outlines, rubrics and tests. Established suppliers are also better placed to instruct teachers on how to make use of AIs capabilities.

Bringing AI to education will not be easy. Although teachers have endured a covid-induced crash course in education technology, many are still behind the learning curve. Less than a fifth of British educators surveyed by Pearson last year reported receiving training on digital learning tools. Tight budgets at many institutions will make selling new technology an uphill battle. AI sceptics will have to be won over, and new AI-powered tools may be needed to catch AI-powered cheating. Thorny questions will inevitably arise as to what all this means for the jobs of teachers: their attention may need to shift towards motivating students and instructing them on how to best work with AI tools. We owe the industry answers on how to harness this technology, declares Bruce Dahlgren, boss of Anthology.

If those answers can be provided, it is not just companies like Mr Dahlgrens that stand to benefit. An influential paper from 1984 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist, found that one-to-one tutoring both improved the average academic performance of students and reduced the variance between them. AI could at last make individual tutors viable for the many. With the learning of students, especially those from poorer households, set back by the upheaval of the pandemic, such a development would certainly deserve top marks.

Read more from Schumpeter, our columnist on global business:Meet the shrewdest operators in todays oil markets (Jan 3rd)Can anyone bar Europe do luxury? (Dec 20th)Boneheaded anti-immigration politicians are throttling globalisation (Dec 14th)

Also: If you want to write directly to Schumpeter, email him at [emailprotected]. And here is an explanation of how the Schumpeter column got its name.

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AI can transform education for the better - The Economist

CIOs are under increasing pressure to deliver AI across their enterprises a new reality that, despite the hype, requirespragmatic approaches to testing, deploying, and managing the technologies responsibly to help their organizations work faster and smarter.

The top brass is paying close attention. Seventy-one percent of business leaders expect AI and ML to have a worldwide impact, according to the WorkdayC-Suite Global AI Indicator Report.Business leaders are excited about what AI and ML could do for their organizationsespecially operational efficiency, better decision-making, and competitive advantage, says the report.

That excitement is creating an acute sense of urgency among IT leaders and their teams. AmongIT leader respondentsin the AI Indicator study, the No. 1 concern is that IT leaders will face pressure to make difficult decisions about where to apply AI and ML.

Those decisions will have far-reaching impact across the organization. IT leaders expect AI and ML to drive a host of benefits, led by increased productivity, improved collaboration, increased revenue and profits, and talent development and upskilling. As AI and ML evolve, so will the skills of the humans supporting these initiatives.

A lot of new roles are going to emerge in the next couple of years as some of the existing roles become less important, says Prashant Nema, global CIO at Arch Capital Services, in the report. There has to be an ongoing focus on making sure that your talent is continuously learning and developing.

A data-driven foundation

Of course, a dose of caution is in order, particularly with newer AI offshoots such as generative AI. IT leaders understand that the models are only as good as the information on which they are educated. Outrageously inaccurate ChatGPT musings are just an opener for what could later be catastrophic mistakes predicated on bad data.

In the AI Indicator Report, almost 60% of IT leaders conceded that their companys data is somewhat or completely siloed, making it difficult for AI and ML to leverage fully.

Our biggest blocker to unleashing the power of AI is uncertainty over the integrity of the dataset its working from, Dan Cohen, CIO and director of operations at The Amenity Collective, says in the report. Our internal data and adherence to process is where our focus is, and we dont necessarily want to leap ahead until we feel like we have a stable footing there.

Ensuring data integrity is part of a broader governance approach organizations will require to deploy and manage AI responsibly.TheNISTs AI Risk Management Frameworkis a good place to start, providing IT teams with guidance on the design, development, and use of responsible AI products and services

Despite the risks, CIOs understand that embracing AI is a question of when and how, not if. Organizations across all industries are moving forward with pilots and production.

AI and ML are a game-changer for business, Chandler Morse, vice president of corporate affairs at Workday, says in a recentpodcast. The thing thats dawning on everyone is that its tough to see any sector in the economy that isnt going to be adopting these tools.

In the same podcast, Ajay Agrawal, professor at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management, recommends that every company pick at least one AI project in a key business area to get started: Unlike any other tools our human civilization has used before, AI learns, so it gets better with use. The people who sit on the sidelines will miss all that learning time, and those that are building their AI now [will gain] the advantage.

For more insights, strategies, and best practices for IT leaders, visitWorkdays CIO Insights.

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CIO insights: Whats next for AI in the enterprise? - CIO

Canaccord Genuity is laying out some names poised to capitalize on the new stage of AI set to unfold in 2024. "Enthusiasm for AI's potential to improve human life and create business value has captivated investors and played a meaningful role in recent market optimism," wrote analyst Susan Anderson. "As we enter 2024, we anticipate a marked shift from businesses creating AI strategies towards executing them, with a focus on measuring and delivering ROI." Makers of large language models such as Alphabet and Microsoft, and chipmakers such as Nvidia dominated artificial intelligence investing in 2024, boosting the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. While those stocks may have won 2023, Anderson believes the market is only in the "early innings of a Cambrian explosion of AI-native applications." Here are some of the companies across sectors best situated to take advantage of the next stage of AI growth: Canccord Genuity sees a plethora of opportunities in the technology space beyond the pure play behemoths that prospered in 2024. Those beneficiaries include software vendors such as HubSpot and those providing the infrastructure for data quality, scalability and model running such as MongoDB . The firm also views cybersecurity stocks as well positioned to benefit as AI attacks increase in sophistication and defenders and cybercriminals battle it out with an array of new generative AI tools. "We believe security vendors will address AI to a much greater extent in 2024 and beyond to stay ahead of the curve or risk losing ground due to competition," analysts wrote. "In the software security section of the report, we address how our coverage companies are implementing and/or enhancing AI strategies." But technology isn't the only industry poised to benefit from AI tailwinds this year and beyond. In fact, the firm labeled a slew of beneficiaries within the health and medical field such as Dexcom and Illumina . DXCM 1Y mountain Dexcom shares over the last year AI implementation can be harnessed to monitor issues such as diabetes can help users monitor glucose levels and assist in DNA sequencing by predicting disease-causing mutations, the firm wrote. Even agriculture is poised to see a significant impact from artificial intelligence, with Deere taking a leadership role in the industry. "Through its centrality within farming operations and vast array of data-collecting sensors, DE's equipment increasingly provides the foundation for many of the AI efforts presently underway in the industry," the firm wrote. "Recent acquisitions focused on precision ag and AI underscore the point." DoubleVerify , Mobileye , Doximity and Amazon were also included in the list. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting

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How to play the next stage of AI in 2024, according to Canaccord Genuity - CNBC

Time and money are two of the most valuable resources people have. And one of the most popular ways for Americans to save on both, is shopping online. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American families spend six hours per week on household planning and shopping. Many of those families do so digitally at Walmart. The worlds largest retailer, famous for its low prices, generated over $82 billion in e-commerce sales in fiscal year 2023 and is steadily growing its active digital customers.

In 2024, the company is further improving the digital shopping experience, building generative AI into its search function to deliver customers a helpful and intuitive browsing experience. Using a combination of Walmart proprietary data and technology and large language models, including those available in Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, as well as retail-specific models built by Walmart, the new design serves up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for.

At CES 2024, Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella introduced the new AI innovations to benefit Walmart customers.

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Study after study shows that AI is driving impact and value across businesses.

Generative AI-powered search

Walmart built an all-new generative AI-powered search function across iOS, Android and its own website. The new capability is specifically designed to understand the context of a customers query and generate personalized responses. Soon, customers will have a more interactive and conversational experience, get answers to specific questions, and receive personalized product suggestions.

For example, a parent planning a birthday party for a child that loves unicorns. Instead of multiple searches for unicorn-themed balloons, napkins, streamers, etc., the parent can simply ask the question Help me plan a unicorn-themed party for my daughter.

One of the reasons why Walmart and other leading retailers are choosing Azure OpenAI Service is the ability to access the most advanced AI models in the world while backed by the enterprise-grade capabilities found in Microsoft Azure including security, compliance and regional availability. Generative AI in retail is particularly exciting as it can help usher in a new way of shopping; shifting from scroll searching to goal searching, which makes the digital shopping experience more seamless and intuitive.

Dont forget about the associates!

Both Walmart and Microsoft share an aligned vision around how AI can help organizations and their people be more productive, more satisfied in their work and go on to solve the most pressing problems.

Over the summer, Walmart launched a new tool, giving its 50,000 non-store associates access to its new My Assistant app, which was created and built by Walmart and leverages a unique build of Walmart proprietary data, technology and large language models in Azure OpenAI Service. In just a few months, the app has already made a big impact for associates, assisting with a range of tasks, from summarizing long documents to assisting in the creation of new content.

A history of success This is just the latest evolution in the Walmart and Microsoft relationship.

In 2018, the companies established a strategic partnership to drive Walmarts digital transformation. As one of Walmarts preferred and strategic cloud providers, Microsoft has supported Walmart on a variety of different cloud projects. From powering access to electronic health records at its in-store clinics to centralizing, democratizing and optimizing data, the companies have and will continue to collaborate to accelerate innovation.

Other ways to AI While Walmarts approach to generative AI uses a combination of large language models, retail-specific models, and their own proprietary data built on top of Azure OpenAI Service, other retailers may have different scenarios that require an alternative approach. Thats why Microsoft offers a broad portfolio of prebuilt, low-code and pro-code solutions that can benefit all retailers and shoppers, no matter where they are on their respective journey.

Visit the Microsoft Cloud for Retail page to learn more.

Tags: AI, Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft Cloud for Retail

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Walmart unveils new generative AI-powered capabilities for shoppers and associates - The Official Microsoft Blog - Microsoft

While you worry about AI bringing about the end of humanity, you might as well use it to get a good night's sleep. DeRucci is a Chinese sleep health company that announced an AI-powered mattress and smart pillow that promise to help you sleep better. The mattress features 23 sensors that monitor small changes in temperature, sleep position and heart rate throughout the night. It also has a layer of air bags that respond to changes in position to better support your spine, neck and hips. It uses AI to adjust everything to your body shape and sleep position and will alert you to any potential health issues arising from your sleep data.

DeRucci's smart pillow aims to combat snoring by monitoring for slight movement that may indicate snoring. When it recognizes that a sleeper is snoring, it intervenes by adjusting the loft and moving the position of a sleeper's head. In addition to reducing snoring, the goal is to reduce the risk of sleep apnea. According to an internal clinical study, the company says its pillow can reduce snoring up to 89%. You may, however, pass out when you discover that the pillow is expected to cost nearly $1,000 with the mattress priced at more than $8,000.

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AI Is Everywhere at CES 2024. Here's the Coolest Tech We've Seen So Far - CNET