Last week was super special.
Volker Krön once again invited me to represent our Sales and Service Innovation Team for yet another Deutsche Telekom FIT Event. Whereas last time in Aachen I talked about generative AI applications today and tomorrow, this time in Bonn it was all about a hands-on practical approach.
To do that I brought my own PC and demoed local AI applications on my humble machine after setting up camp right next to Mike Busam who demoed some extraordinary deepfaking tech at his booth and Elmar Brauch who showcased AI for coding and the GitHub Copilot with his colleagues Valentina Karaulnova and Jannik Krämer.
Even if my demo booth’s title was clearly hinting towards local applications without the need for an Internet connection, some colleagues wouldn’t believe what they saw to be a local install at all. This included demos of:
- An almost mainstream AI image generation tool like Fooocus or Automatic1111.
- A chat bot running with local open source LLMs.
- Something a little more exotic like Real-Time Voice Cloning (RVC).
After a long day demoing, my sore throat was a testament to the fact that we still have a lot to talk about when looking at (gen)AI. But talking about and demoing technology is not everything. Instead, reaching out to everyone is far more crucial as it sets the baseline for understanding, gaining traction and then leveraging new technology.
By doing so, we do have a responsibility, as Deutsche Telekom. As I said in a short recorded video insert during Srini Gopalan’s keynote at the FIT event in Bonn:
We as Deutsche Telekom should act as role models in terms of technology, digitization, its human-centered approach and use as well as its societal applications and impact.
As we will discover an increasing number of AI use cases within our „Sales & Service“ organization in the months to come, here’s to keeping that promise above as we usher in a new paradigm of AI-enhanced interactions both with our customers, clients and colleagues.
Thank you to Norbert Ittermann for the great images at the booth.