AI, what for?
I am not convinced that large companies have a clear vision for AI yet, but they will likely acquire smaller firms that do.
The Mobile World Congress serves as a platform for major tech companies, telecommunications providers, and even nations to showcase their latest offerings. MWC25 was heavily focused on AI; however, it was challenging to discern the specific problems that large companies aimed to address with their AI solutions. Perhaps their primary goal was to impress the stock market.
Many exhibitors prominently featured "AI" on their posters, but obtaining clear explanations from staff about how AI was being utilised to perform life-changing activities proved difficult. Upon further inquiry, some solutions were revealed to be basic machine learning applications, such as plate recognition or image processing. One demonstration involved AI assessing an "emotional score," which indicated I was "very interested" (95% score) in the content displayed. The practical value of this was questionable. Additionally, a phone manufacturer employed a feature long mastered by voice-activated assistants—adding an event to a calendar— if a customer purchased their latest device.
In contrast, smaller companies, often found in less prominent locations such as Hall 8.1, were more forthcoming about their objectives. They presented clear and concise mission statements, summarised in 20 words. This straightforward approach was refreshing and made their goals easily understandable. The key takeaway was that with a robust dataset and a well-defined question (ideally related to the data), AI can be a powerful tool.
Large corporations, in my view, are falling short in effectively communicating the benefits of their AI services (at best). Nevertheless, the applications of AI are expanding. AI does not need to be groundbreaking. No one enjoys sifting through vast amounts of data (CVs, lists, alerts, measurements, papers, etc.) because it is tedious and quickly overwhelms our cognitive abilities. It is possible that smaller companies will pioneer innovative AI solutions, which larger corporations will then acquire. This pattern is not unprecedented.