Bionics, belief, and human beings: Key takeaways from our AI summer event

And it captured the spirit of the room as our recent AI event brought together experts and interested parties to explore cutting-edge AI trends, along with the next generation of innovators – some of the finalists from this year’s Raspberry Pi schools competition.

People power

Some strong themes emerged from the discussions. And as our speakers discussed bionics, and the need for an optimistic attitude, they all pointed to an overall conclusion that AI needs – and is all the more powerful for – the human touch.

That ties in with our philosophy. We think of AI as ‘augmented’ as opposed to ‘artificial’ intelligence. In other words, it’s an extension of human capability, not a replacement. Even the most advanced AI tools and new technologies need people at the heart of their development. And this is true for the intelligent enterprises of the future – where every process and function will be enabled by AI, and every employee assisted by AI.

Users know best

Our keynote speaker was award-winning entrepreneur Samantha Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics. Her company uses 3D scanning, 3D printing, and automation to design and build wearable technologies for people with disabilities. Initially, they worked with children with upper limb loss, and now provide products for adults too.

Her story vividly demonstrates the value of user insight when it comes to implementing the latest technologies. “We went straight to children, and we gave them a blank piece of paper and lots of pens and asked them to draw their ideal hand,” Samantha explained. “And the most interesting thing happened: not one child designed a bionic hand that looked like their existing hand. There was no mirror image, no human hand, no request for flesh-coloured devices.” What’s more, the children wanted more capabilities than a human hand has. “They were really amazing to work with because of their expansive thinking and that really removed our constraints around the possibilities,” added Samantha.

She and her colleagues went on to work with the Walt Disney Company to create bionic hands with designs based on Iron Man, Frozen, and Star Wars, for example. “The feedback from the amputee community was overwhelming. They were basically saying, ‘Wow, a company is designing for us as people. We're not just a clinical problem being offered a clinical solution. I'm a human with a personality and I can express myself through this technology that I'm going to be wearing every single day.’”

It was an issue that students from UTC school in Oxfordshire, UK identified with. Their Raspberry Pi competition entry was a device to help neurodivergent people manage sensory overloads, partly as it’s something they have experienced and witnessed themselves. “A lot of things designed for neurodivergent people aren’t designed by neurodivergent people and that's where it goes wrong,” observed one of the team.

Samantha expanded on this point. “Whenever you're developing any kind of technology, it's really important you have a diverse stakeholder set. That way you’re developing with the people you’ll be serving. And so that's related to gender, economy, the economics of the users, religion, ethnicity, race, age, geolocation, and cultural values.”

Human values win out

Alwin Magimay, our global head of AI, touched on the idea that people often find AI “cool, but scary”. He talked about a framework we’ve developed to help people assuage these fears. “When I develop an AI system,” he said, “can I ensure it's fair, transparent, responsible, and accurate?” These FTRA principes can help business leaders who can’t be intimately acquainted with all the legislation, especially when it’s liable to change at any time, and differs globally. He added: “I've been through all five technology waves and this is the one that's going to be really exciting and big. We're going to see businesses being redefined and reimagined.”

Further illustrating the potential of generative AI to reshape the way we work, Alwin added: “Imagine having a large language model (LLM) with access to your institutional knowledge, and another organisation with a LLM that has their institutional knowledge. Instantly, your LLM would be able to talk to the other, regardless of language, completely changing the paradigm for how we communicate with each other.”

There was recognition from the Raspberry Pi students of the need for business leaders to help shape and respond to this changing world, and to build belief. A student from the Richard Hale School in the UK commented: “AI is going to reshape business, it's going to reshape how we live and work, and change how the world works in the future.”

Hurdles need humanity ingenuity

Samantha’s experience when the company expanded into products for adults revealed the role human ingenuity plays in innovation. They were ready to launch just as the COVID-19 pandemic struck. At the time, the company’s relationships were with clinics, but lockdowns meant the clinics shut up shop.

Samantha and her team had to think on their feet. “It’s a cliché but true that necessity is the mother of invention.” From a single desk, they launched Open Bionics’ very first online healthcare clinic, meaning they owned the relationship with the end user. It brought patients, R&D, and manufacturing closer together. Samantha’s team could debug products and make changes for individuals fast. It established a completely new operating model for the business. While the technology had been ready before COVID-19 hit, it took human intervention to solve a problem – and bring an even better outcome.

An exciting future

As well as these key themes, our experts and guests explored the opportunities for efficiencies and new roles AI will bring. It’s a conversation we plan to continue as we support organisations in combining digital, data, and AI technologies with deep human insight to create a positive human future.