— AI is being used for crunching data, detecting fraud, writing software, analyzing language and much more, but business users say human expertise remains as important as ever.
Spencer X. Smith, founder of Madison-based digital marketing firm AmpliPhi, emphasized the importance of human feedback for an AI training method called reinforcement learning. He spoke yesterday during a panel discussion in Madison organized by In Business magazine.
“That’s still an integral part — we just can’t have AIs talking to AIs,” Smith said. “We have to have a human actually be part of the feedback loop … That’s still a super, super important part.”
Panelists yesterday highlighted a variety of ways they’re integrating different forms of AI into their own business operations, as well as broader industry trends.
Rachel Neill, CEO of Carex Consulting Group in Madison, said she gets help from AI software when writing job descriptions. She runs the listing’s language through a program that analyzes it for biased language and other issues. And she uses Chat GPT, an AI-based language model, to write HTML code for online content and optimize it for various devices.
“I am not a great HTML coder … That saves me days, probably, if I was having to go back and do that myself,” she said.
Nick Myers, co-founder of Madison-based health tech startup RedFox AI, discussed his company’s conversational AI program that’s been trained to help users understand and use at-home medical devices and medications.
And Ben Udell, senior vice president of client experience for Madison’s Lake Ridge Bank, noted AI applications have been deployed in the financial sector by major companies like VISA.
“They are applying technology like this to uncover and understand fraud,” he said. “Probably everybody in here has received some sort of fraud alert, fraud message. So that’s happening, there’s a lot of investment into there.”
Smith also spoke to the potential for AI to transform the writing process, putting the human user into the position of editor while the software does the more time-consuming work. But he and the other panelists underlined the crucial role of human intelligence in ensuring machine intelligence is used correctly.
Myers argued for always keeping “a human in the loop,” referencing an example in which a New York attorney relied on Chat GPT to write a legal brief, which was later found to contain fabricated case references.
And Udell urged attendees to closely “read, to review, to edit” any AI-generated content to ensure it meets their standards for accuracy.
“The reality is, it takes work and a skill to be able to use these services to their full capability … it’s about building prompts, it’s about interacting,” he said.
See a recent related story: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/uw-expert-warns-of-ai-cyber-threats-urges-skepticism-about-defenses/
Listen to a WisBusiness.com podcast with Myers: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-nick-myers-redfox-ai/
— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Midwest Food Products Association President Jason Culotta discusses supply chain challenges, impacts on pricing and more.
Certain metals used in can manufacturing have been in short supply in the United States, he said, which impacts the Midwest canned food industry. The region supplies most of the U.S. canned vegetable supply, from sweet corn to green beans.
“We beat everyone in the world on quality, but on price … normally with labor it’s not an issue actually, surprisingly, compared to the foreign competition,” he said. “But this packaging issue, with the steel for the cans, has put us at a bit of a disadvantage.”
More foreign products in this market are being sold by U.S. retailers, Culotta said, adding that’s been disappointing to see. Many of those competing products come from China, Thailand and Brazil, he said. But he noted “these things ebb and flow, and we’re sure hopeful that we’re going to get a chance to compete fairly again.”
He also shares his thoughts on top export opportunities for agricultural producers, highlighting “some significant growth” in places such as Mexico and the Netherlands.
And Culotta touches on new shipping lanes opening up in the Midwest, emerging trends in the transportation business and more.
Watch the latest episode here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/talking-trade-with-jason-culotta-midwest-food-products-association/
“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/talking-trade/
— Two groups backing a public funding plan to cover renovations at the Milwaukee Brewers stadium released results from a new poll that suggests likely voters support finding a bipartisan solution.
The poll conducted for VISIT Milwaukee and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce found two-thirds of voters surveyed agree that Evers and GOP lawmakers need to work together to find a solution.
It also found 58% said “yes” when asked if they supported a “proposal in the state Legislature to cover this shortfall with a combination of funding from the state of Wisconsin, the regional Stadium District, and the Brewers organization jointly paying for these improvements.”
The results released yesterday didn’t include anything on whether voters support requiring Milwaukee County and the city to provide funding for such a deal. The proposal introduced last month and poised for a hearing today would require the county and city to cover $202.5 million of the $700 million price tag.
A poll the Dem firm Public Policy Polling conducted for Milwaukee Works in early September found 56% of Milwaukee County residents oppose using tax dollars to pay for improvements for the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.
The poll of 800 likely voters was conducted for VISIT Milwaukee and MMAC by the GOP firm the Tarrance Group Sept. 20-25 using live calls. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
FiveThirtyEight rates the Tarrance Group a B-plus pollster.
See the release, which includes a link to the polling memo:
— The law firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP is acquiring Trifecta General Counsel, a Madison-based firm specializing in health care law.
Trifecta, founded in 2017, focuses on contract negotiation, technology licensing, digital health and regulatory compliance. The firm also provides advisory services to emerging businesses and other clients.
Four lawyers will be joining Michael Best through the merger, according to a release.
David Krutz, the firm’s managing partner, says their experience along with Michael Best’s existing health care expertise “offers our clients a full range of strategic services — particularly in the health tech space — to address opportunities and challenges in the healthcare industry.”
Yesterday’s announcement also highlighted Trifecta’s “non-traditional business platform,” which uses a fixed monthly subscription model, “eliminating concerns with hourly rates and sometimes vague” project budgets. It notes that option will continue to be available through Michael Best.
See the release: https://www.michaelbest.com/Newsroom/324303/Michael-Best-Combines-with-Healthcare-Law-Firm-Trifecta-General-Counsel
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— UW-Madison researchers have opened enrollment for a study aimed at gauging the effectiveness of updated COVID-19 vaccines for patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# UW System faculty fear for the future of Wisconsin higher ed
# Baird fined $15 million by SEC for record keeping violations. It’s among 10 firms fined
# Forbes 400: Diane Hendricks further narrows gap with John Menard Jr. as Wisconsin’s richest
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– UW-River Falls hosts Kazakhstan visitors seeking to boost their dairy sector
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=892&yr=2023
– Heat slows harvest of Wisconsin potato crop, farmers worry about rot
# ECONOMY
– Seven Wisconsinites make Forbes annual list of richest Americans
# EDUCATION
– ‘Put students first’: Dozens gather to protest UW-Oshkosh plan to cut 200 positions
# FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– Johnsonville replaces Klement’s as Bucks’ sausage sponsor
# HEALTH CARE
– Pro-Life Wisconsin files complaints with licensing agency against doctors resuming abortions
– Froedtert to fully acquire insurance provider serving 23 Wisconsin counties, 117K people
– Froedtert Health to take full ownership of Wisconsin insurance company Network Health
– Wisconsin medical board complaint seeks to bar doctors from performing abortions
# LEGAL
– Baird to pay $15 million penalty for communication, recordkeeping issues
# MANUFACTURING
– Energizer to lay off 172 in closure of one of two former Rayovac plants in Wisconsin
– Products made in Appleton, Pulaski, Merrill among top 8 in Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest
# MEDIA
– WiWiC celebrates women land stewards
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=891&yr=2023
– Kaukauna couple wins $20K prize on ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’
# POLITICS
– Madison’s record spending plan comes with ‘bleak’ warning from mayor
# REAL ESTATE
– This historic Frank Lloyd Wright property is for sale in Milwaukee
# SPORTS
– ‘An easy town to adjust to’: Jimmy and Dee Haslam stay busy as new Milwaukee Bucks owners
– NASCAR to return to the Milwaukee Mile in 2024
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
St. Norbert College: Sherrilyn Ifill to present St. Norbert College Norman & Louis Miller Lecture
