September 6, 2024
US
During the Grand Final of the Start Me Up Challenge, an exciting debate took place at MEDEF on generative artificial intelligence and its growing role in e-commerce. Patrick Martin, president of MEDEF, opened the discussion by referring to the current economic context, marked by instability that is pushing companies to look for new growth drivers. AI is therefore becoming an essential strategic asset in this period of tension.
Nicolas Bouzou, economist and essayist, Julia de Funès, philosopher, and Thomas Métivier, CEO of Cdiscount, explored the economic, ethical and practical aspects of this technology. Through this debate, several key points emerged, underlining the importance of generative AI for businesses that want to innovate and remain competitive.
In his opening speech, Patrick Martin recalled how AI, in particular generative artificial intelligence, can play a decisive role in e-commerce, especially in an economic context marked by low investment growth. Businesses, facing recruitment difficulties linked to demographic changes, see AI as an opportunity to automate certain repetitive tasks and upgrade others that are more interesting.
The challenge is therefore clear: AI makes it possible to make companies more agile and optimize their human resources. Those who do not adopt it may quickly find themselves overwhelmed in a market where innovation is becoming a survival criterion.
At the heart of the debate, a distinction was made between two central concepts of artificial intelligence: Machine Learning and generative AI. The first, based on self-learning models, is often perceived as a “black box” due to the complexity of its processes. Generative AI, on the other hand, represents a real technological leap, making it possible to create varied content from large quantities of data.
Thomas Métivier described this technology as a “revolution”, both in terms of the speed of its deployment and its increased accessibility. Conversational interfaces, for example, allow anyone to interact with complex AI models through simple text exchanges, facilitating their adoption across a variety of industries, including e-commerce. This democratization of AI technologies opens the way to major improvements in customer experience and operational efficiency.
Generative AI is beginning to transform the way people work, both personally and professionally. Nicolas Bouzou, who uses AI tools on a daily basis, shared his experience with AI as an intellectual partner, highlighting its usefulness in tasks such as strategic thinking or language learning. In the professional context, this technology offers numerous opportunities to improve productivity, in particular through the optimization of internal operations and the improvement of interactions with customers.
However, one question remains: how to integrate these tools in such a way that they become real productivity drivers for businesses? This question highlights the challenge of large-scale adoption of AI technologies in work processes, a crucial issue for companies that want to remain at the forefront of innovation.
One of the big questions raised by AI is its impact on employment. While it promises to free employees from repetitive and tedious tasks, it also fuels fears about the disappearance of certain jobs. Julia de Funès identified three issues related to this technological revolution: pragmatic, hierarchical and existential. Pragmatically, AI could improve efficiency by delegating routine tasks to machines. On a hierarchical level, it raises the question of the control that humans will exercise over these technologies. Finally, the existential challenge questions the very place of management in the age of AI: if managers content themselves with managing automated processes, their role could become obsolete.
Nicolas Bouzou, for his part, puts these concerns into perspective by recalling that the fear of technology and job loss is not new. He refers to history, stressing that while some jobs disappear, many others emerge. AI will not necessarily eliminate jobs, but it could profoundly transform the very nature of certain professions.
For the integration of AI in the world of work to be a success, several axes should be considered. Thomas Métivier insists on the importance of team training and the modernization of technological infrastructures. Julia de Funès emphasizes the need to adopt an open and agile mindset in the face of the rapid changes induced by this technology. Finally, Nicolas Bouzou sees the adoption of AI as a national competitiveness issue, stressing that a judicious use of these technologies could strengthen the position of French companies on the global market.
Thus, stakeholders agree on the importance of finding a balance between the adoption of AI tools and the preservation of human skills. The challenge for businesses is significant: to adapt to a future where AI will become an essential partner, while keeping people at the center of concerns.
Source: Fevad
