What a Conference Agenda Tells You About the State of the AI Industry
A conference agenda is not just a schedule of events; it’s a mirror that reflects the pulse of an industry. As technology advances and societal needs change, the topics and themes that dominate these agendas evolve. In the world of artificial intelligence and machine learning, this evolution has been nothing short of remarkable.
This is especially true of the last 12 months. As large language models, generative AI, and prompt engineering have all taken center stage in the AI domain, the interests, demands, and skills required to forge ahead with one’s career have also changed. ODSC conferences have always focused on both the core skills in data science and emerging trends; however, as the past year has shown, the dynamic has greatly shifted more than ever, rather than a slow, gradual change seen before.
Any reputable AI conference — ODSC included — shouldn’t stick to just what’s been done before. Yes, there’s the mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but you can do both what’s worked before, and what the industry calls for. There are still plenty of people looking to enter the field of data science for the first time, either coming from a related field like computer science, or starting fresh and looking to tackle AI as their first skillset. Meanwhile, there are established pros who are looking for the next big thing, and right now that big thing is large language models.
The Rise of Large Language Models
One of the biggest themes you’ll see at ODSC West this year is the focus on LLMs, generative AI, and prompt engineering. Traditionally, our NLP track has focused on the usual aspects of NLP, such as text analytics and sentiment analysis. While we still will have sessions on those topics, we’ve seen that LLMs are by far the most talked about topics in both AI as a whole, and specifically within the subfield of natural language processing.
Demands are Changing
Now that many employers have seen how much generative AI can change their entire strategy, those looking to upskill current employees or hire new data scientists are likely looking into generative AI more than ever. This likely won’t involve employers looking to replace their existing workforce with AI; rather, employers are looking for those who can develop or work with AI so that the entire team — not just data scientists — can use AI.
At ODSC West, we’re highlighting use cases of how teams can make and use generative AI applications, among other out-of-the-box solutions for teams. While this will be seen in a lot of the training sessions we have scheduled, most of these changes will be reflected during the Ai X Innovation Summit, where we’ll feature many of those AI solutions that your team can adopt quickly.
New Questions Need Answering
There have always been questions surrounding artificial intelligence, most of which revolve around the idea that AI will replace jobs. Now with generative AI, improved chatbots, and LLMs, those concerns have only grown. Because of this, some people may attend AI conferences to see what they can do to get ahead in this new storm, while others may go to learn about the topic, such as industry complications.
We will address these concerns throughout the conference, especially during the panels we have lined up during the Ai X Innovation Summit. These panels will cover the use of synthetic data, look at new startups to alleviate these new concerns, and even talk about the woes of domain-specific questions.
Get your questions answered
There’s a lot that you can learn from just looking at a conference agenda, including ODSC West, but also for any other conference you may attend. Even for those in marketing, conference agendas aren’t decided at random; rather, they’re meticulously planned with months of research and discovering the needs of the community.
By attending ODSC West this October 30th to November 2nd — either in-person or virtually — you can learn more about the state of the artificial intelligence industry, see how you can use AI in your organization, and get your questions about the field answered. Learn from those who use and make AI directly, and see why it’s going to be your organization’s best tool moving forward.
Originally posted on OpenDataScience.com
Read more data science articles on OpenDataScience.com, including tutorials and guides from beginner to advanced levels! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here and receive the latest news every Thursday. You can also get data science training on-demand wherever you are with our Ai+ Training platform. Interested in attending an ODSC event? Learn more about our upcoming events here.
