Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it may benefit local businesses was the focal point of a recent 2024 Business Illawarra Summit at the Shellharbour Civic Centre.

The inaugural AI Summit for the Illawarra and Shoalhaven area drew a broad line-up of speakers, including Katie Vainauskas, Strategy and AI Partner at Deloitte, Minh Tran, Manager of Seller Services at Amazon, Brad Ryan, Analytics & Machine Learning Partner Lead at AWS and Ryan Fitton, CEO and Founder of Punch Buggy.

Ed Husic, the Minister for Industry and Science, gave the keynote address.

The idea for the event came after Business Illawarra conducted a survey among its members, which showed that thirty percent of businesses still have not adapted to AI, and are missing out on the benefits.

The visitor economy is being transformed by AI, said Paula Martin, Interim Executive Director for Business Illawarra.

“Hopefully, this summit will get you started with your AI journey. Through AI we are able to mimic intrinsically human skills, such as creating, communicating, taking action, seeing, listening and analysing,” Martin said.

Within two months of its launch in November last year, ChatGPT had 100 million users.  It is estimated that the integration of AI by Australian businesses by 2030, will give the economy a $115 billion boost.

But the technology is not without its caveats.

Katie Vainauskas of Deloitte said and stressed that there are still areas where humans do it best and while AI might be 100 percent confident, “it is not always right.”

“I’ve come to learn. (It’s) a beautiful way to start the day,” said Christina Cawkell, who is a regional engagement manager for Telstra. She said she was not representing Telstra at the event.

Many businesses are still seeking more information about how they can practically implement AI while at the same time protecting their business DNA, citing legal/regulatory issues, data security and SMB case studies as topics for future AI-session.