Category: France

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, France, Productivity

WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON

Yogi Nelson

PRODUCTIVITY AND EMPLOYMENT?

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your blockchain and artificial intelligence technology questions are answered.   Here no question is mundane.  As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question, was submitted by Milagros and she wants to know what will be the impact of artificial intelligence on productivity and employment?

Milagros, you came to the right place.  Two days ago, I viewed an interview with Philippe Aghion.  Aghion is a leading French economist who recently published an important research paper on the subject that he presented to French President Emanuel Macron.  Holy influencer, Batman!  Although there are numerous AI experts, this article covers only the perspective of Aghion. 

Aghion limited his research to the impact of AI on productivity and employment.  According to Aghion, the full impact productivity and employment of AI will go beyond electricity and the internet!  Holy big assertion, Batman.  Let’s understand Aghion’s logic.

His first reason is perhaps obvious; AI facilitates automation, and automation means increased productivity.  Easy to agree; let’s move to his second reason.  Aghion says, AI facilitates learning, and again, intuitively he makes sense.  Just like electricity and the internet facilitated learning, in too many ways to itemize here, AI users can learn new skills and information, making them more productive and thus increasing overall productivity.  Aghion’s third point is where he inaugurates new thinking. 

Aghion says, AI is vastly superior to either electricity or the internet in its ability to produce new ideas and these forthcoming innovations will deliver greater productivity and employment. And, unlike electricity and the internet which both eventually plateaued in productively gains, Aghion says the boost in productivity coming from new ideas will continue for an undetermined duration because there is no limit to human ideas.  Last, Aghion says electricity and the internet both took about 10 years before impacting productivity meaningfully; AI is on the same trajectory.  Time to examine what Aghion says concerning employment—it’s not all rosy.

Let’s start with the good news.  Aghion claims that automation creates more net employment. He says automation adopters become more efficient and pass along the benefits to customers in lower prices and better quality.  He further claims, that although competitors may lose jobs, the overall market size grows because new customers enter and employment in the sector grows.  Analogous to what Henry Ford did in the automobile industry. 

As expected, Aghion believes certain industries might be in jeopardy and offered three examples: IT security firms, production process companies, and machine learning firms (e.g., call centers).  With regards to employment impacts, he divided his analysis into significant, moderate, and little to no effect.  Aghion identified clerks, secretaries, and accountants as the three most likely adversely impacted occupations.  Aghion says architects, lawyers, and perhaps health care fall in the moderate group.

Aghion concluded with a few recommendations starting with government policy to prevent oligopolies from dominating AI.  He notes large firms are not necessarily innovators, but small firms are.  Second, open-sourced AI is essential to transparency and long-term viability.  Third, protection of personal data must be a priority.  Last, is job training and re-education for displaced workers.  Aghion forecasts 20% of all jobs will be eliminated or nearly eliminated by AI over the next decade. Therefore, generous re-education, training, and unemployment benefits will be required.

Time to quit before AI grabs my money losing blog, (ha ha) and share a French proverb:

“You should turn your tongue around in your mouth seven times before you speak.”

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, France, Yogi Nelson

A GLIMPSE AT MISTRAL—THE FRENCH LEADER IN THE AI REVOLUTION

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your blockchain and artificial intelligence technology questions are answered!   Here no question is too mundane.  As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question, was submitted by Luis from Malibu and he wants to know is Mistral leading the French AI revolution?

Luis, you came to the right place. Your question has perfect timing. I just returned from France and am feeling the French vibe! Rather than covering the entire waterfront of AI developments in France, I’ll limit myself to a French company named Mistral.  Let’s start with a bit of background on Mistral, including its name which is French to the core–c’est la vie!

The word mistral has multiple uses in French.  Not only does Mistral mean a cold northwesterly wind, but it’s also not uncommon for companies in industries related to wind energy, sailing, or the environment to use it in their name. The French say it evokes a sense of power, speed, and a connection to the natural world. It can also mean masterly.  While traveling in France, I noticed Mistral as a last name as we say in the USA or as they say in France, the family name.  Holy multi-tasking word, Batman!  Now a word about the Mistral team and company mission.

With fewer than two dozen members, the Mistral team is small.  According to Mistral, their mission is to make frontier AI ubiquitous, and to provide tailor-made AI to all developers.  Mistral says, their mission requires fierce independence, strong commitment to open, portable, and custom solutions, and an extreme focus on shipping the most advanced technology in limited time.  How I discovered Mistral comes next, followed by what Mistral does, and what it offers.

Approximately three months ago I discovered Mistral while researching AI projects for this blog.  I attempted access but was denied.  Instead, Mistral put me on a waiting list of interested users and recently granted me access with a full disclosure that their large language model (LLM) is in beta testing status. 

Today, I put Mistral’s LLM, Le Chat, to the test against, two American companies—Open AI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Co-Pilot– by asking all three identical questions.  All three-offer free access to their LLM services.  I won’t detail the contest; it’s not necessary.  Essentially, Mistral is lacking behind the competition.  Why Mistral trails, is a matter of speculation.  Perhaps its funding related?  Or maybe Mistral team size means it’s too small to compete with the titans? Could be they started later?  I don’t know, but I do know the competition is ahead.  Okay, now we go beyond their LLM to a preview of Mistrals AI products. 

On their website, Mistral has a click option labeled La Plataforme (the Platform).  This is where you’ll find the heart of their offerings and services.  Basically, La Plataforme is a subscription service.  For a fee, Mistral offers access to their AI developer tools. Mistral claims the tools permits users to develop AI agents and other related products.  The subscription grants access to the latest Mistral models and to pay based on what you use.  That’s a good feature.  Moreover, users can set monthly spending limits and if there are multiple users with an enterprise, Mistral will centralize billing.  The subscription grants access to the corresponding documentation and of course users can create API keys to access Mistral AI.

Time to say “au revoir” (goodbye) but not before sharing this French proverb:  Only imbeciles don’t change their opinions.”   Well said, my French friends!

Sincerely,

Yogi Nelson