Generative AI is one of the key topics at the 2024 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, with companies and brands from all over the world sharing innovations and thoughts of the future of the technology. The popularity of generative AI will impact companies like Verizon Communications (VZ), which controls the wireless networks which will transmit so much of this data.

Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg joins Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi and Julie Hyman to discuss how Verizon will implement generative AI into its business, take measures to solidify customer retention, and more.

It's all part of Yahoo Finance's exclusive coverage from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where our team will speak to top decision-makers as well as preeminent leaders in business, finance, and politics about the worlds most pressing issues and priorities for the coming year.Watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live here.

Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino

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JULIE HYMAN: Welcome back to "Yahoo Finance" and our coverage from the World Economic Forum in Davos. I'm Julie Hyman, this is Brian Sozzi. And a lot of the conversations we've been having both on and off camera have been centered around AI, governance of AI, all the cool stuff AI can do. I even talked to a couple of folks off camera who said that they have a new AI-powered device, a generative AI-powered device called the Rabbit, which brings up the new sort of iPhone of AI race, if you will.

Well, let's talk to somebody about all of this. Chairman and CEO of Verizon, Hans Vestberg, is joining us now. Thank you so much for being here, Hans.

HANS VESTBERG: Thank you for having me. Good to be here. Great to be here.

JULIE HYMAN: So, when I think about AI-powered devices, obviously they need to run on something.

HANS VESTBERG: Absolutely.

JULIE HYMAN: So that makes me think of Verizon. So how are you thinking about what comes next and how Verizon plays in it?

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HANS VESTBERG: So when it comes to AI, I mean, especially the generative AI and things like that, I think at the edge of the network is going to be very important to have AI to take quick decisions, very close to the end user, the customer, or the enterprise. And of course, that's how we build our network.

We built our network with an enormously strong resilience from the data center to the edge of the network. So I think that as you're going to see over time, the network will be very important. I mean, all the power you need for it, of course, to do all the generation of it, but also to transport all the data. And that's how we build the network.

So very clearly, we think that generative AI will be important for our business. Then, of course, we use AI already today in our company. And think that's going to continue to be an important tool for us.

BRIAN SOZZI: As this AI permeates the United States, does that change how much you invest each year in terms of CapEx?

HANS VESTBERG: No, no, not directly, but of course, over time, the smarter you become to know where you're going to deploy your capital-- now we talk about network capital, how you build your network. I mean, in 2023, we have the guidance between $18 billion and 1/4 to $19 billion and 1/4. So we invest quite heavily, a capital intensive business.

So if we would know a little bit better where we have the holes we need to put in capacity into quicker, that will be helpful from AI. Ultimately, I have a person doing it, but learning where do I have the challenges, where do I have problems, that's very important. So definitely, it can make us much more efficient.

JULIE HYMAN: When you look at your business-- I assume you guys are sort of device agnostic for end users on wireless devices. But I know you guys are trying to minimize churn at this point, you're trying to keep your wireless subscribers. Talk to us-- I know you can't give us a lot of near-term discussion, but give us some big picture around strategy.

HANS VESTBERG: No, because I'm going to report my fourth quarter next week.

JULIE HYMAN: I know, I know

HANS VESTBERG: So I will try to refrain from that. No, I think you come to a market-- if we talk wireless consumer, almost everyone in this country has a mobile phone. So it's much about retention of the customers, continue to give them great services, and building new services. I mean, we have not only the greatest network, we also built a lot of new services, especially with the content providers we have.

Right now, in the market, we have a combination of Netflix and Max. Nobody else can do that. And ultimately, to give the right services and the right type of products.

And we also launched-- my plan in May, where it's basically you customize your own plan. This is the type of network I want. This is the type of perks-- we call it perks. What type I want Disney Plus, I want that. And you can put it together, and that becomes a more attractive offering. So that's how we need to think about it.

Then, of course, it's also new customers that you want to attract. But as a smaller piece today, it's much more important to see that you have the right offering for the existing customers.

BRIAN SOZZI: The more tech CEOs that I talk to, I get the sense that I'm going to need a new phone very quickly. Do you see a major iPhone, Samsung upgrade cycle in the next couple of years because of this AI?

HANS VESTBERG: We have seen, of course, a little bit of a slowdown on customers getting new phones. So they keep the phones longer, because they're getting better and better. Of course, that's part of it. And the networks, of course, even better.

So but of course, every new innovation attracts new players in the market and new devices. And I think the last time, they were really hyped was, of course, when the first 5G phone came in 2019, '20, and '21. Let's see if AI have the same attraction.

You're going to need to see, first of all, that it gives some new application services for the consumer, especially if they're going to attract them. So we are eager to see-- I probably know more than I can say, but it's going to be exciting to see what type of phones will come out in the next couple of years.

JULIE HYMAN: Well, you're kind of on a related note, I mean, we heard one of your European competitors, Vodafone, coming out with a new partnership with Microsoft today that has to do with AI. Can we expect some things like that from Verizon?

HANS VESTBERG: I think we're already working with these type of things. And I think that both-- because what you need to think about when you deliver a service to customers, you need a network to be configured right, you need a devices and the modems that is making the connections right, and you need the applications.

We are long term. We work with our partners all the time to see that we have the best performance and the best innovative service on top of it. So you can not only expect, we're already working with all these players in order to see that customers get the best of us. And there's many different partners you need to work with because we are agnostic for different type of operating system and devices.

BRIAN SOZZI: We've talked to a lot of leaders so far in the two days we've been here. And especially, after the Iowa caucus results, there's now this new level of caution after these results. Of course, President Trump winning that Iowa caucus. Are you preparing for consumer weakening in the back half of the year as we get up to the election?

HANS VESTBERG: I mean, the last couple of years, basically we're preparing for a weakness. I think companies like ours are always prepared for different scenarios in the market. That's our job.

We haven't seen so much until the third quarter. At least, I can't say anything more. The consumer spend has been good. More important, I think, that our service, mobility and broadband, is so important in today's society in order for you to be part of our society. If it's during the education, work from home, or maybe even health care or other societal things are important.

So our industry has been growing in importance for the consumer and for enterprises. And I think that's part of it as well. But let us see, we are preparing for any outcome. But until the third quarter, which I reported last time, we didn't see much of it nor in customers payment readiness and things like that. So, but let's see next week, because next week, I'm going to have an earnings call.

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Verizon CEO on the impact of generative AI on wireless networks - Yahoo Finance

Altman was specifically referencing artificial general intelligence, or AGI, a term used to refer to a form of AI that can complete tasks to the same level, or a step above, humans.

He said AGI could be developed in the "reasonably close-ish future."

Altman, whose company burst into the mainstream after the public launch of the ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022, has tried to temper concerns from AI skeptics about the degree to which the technology will take over society.

Before the introduction of OpenAI's GPT-4 model in March, Altman warned technologists not to get overexcited by its potential, saying that people would likely be "disappointed" with it.

"People are begging to be disappointed and they will be," Altman said during a January interview with StrictlyVC. "We don't have an actual [artificial general intelligence] and that's sort of what's expected of us."

Founded in 2015, OpenAI's stated mission is to achieve AGI. The company, which is backed by Microsoft and has a private market valuation approaching $100 billion, says it wants to design the technology safely.

Following Donald Trump's victory in the Iowa Republican caucus on Monday, Altman was asked whether AI might exacerbate economic inequalities and lead to dislocation of the working class as the presidential elections pick up steam.

"Yes, for sure, I think that's something to think about," Altman said. But he later said, "This is much more of a tool than I expected."

Altman said AI isn't yet replacing jobs at the scale that many economists fear, and added that the technology is already getting to a place where it's becoming an "incredible tool for productivity."

Concerns about AI safety and OpenAI's role in protecting it were at the center of Altman's brief ouster from the company in November after the board said it had lost confidence in its leader. Altman was swiftly reinstated as CEO after a broad backlash from OpenAI employees and investors. Upon his return, Microsoft gained a nonvoting board observer seat at OpenAI.

WATCH: OpenAI, Microsoft and NYT will likely reach a settlement

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OpenAI's Sam Altman says human-level AI is coming but will change world much less than we think - CNBC

Marietje Schaake, International Policy Fellow, Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and former European Parliamentarian, co-hosts GZERO AI, our new weekly video series intended to help you keep up and make sense of the latest news on the AI revolution. In this episode, Schaake is live from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, where AI is one of the dominant themes. Interestingly, she says, the various conversations about AI have been nuanced: it's been acknowledged as a top risk for the year as much as for its immense potential.

Hi, my name is Maritje Schaake, we are in Davos at the World Economic Forum, where AI really is one of the key topics that people are talking about. And I think what stands out and what I've heard referenced in various meetings is that the WEF's risk report of this year has signaled that this information, especially as a result of the uptake of emerging technologies, is considered one of the key risks that people see this year.

Of course, this being a year in which many elections around the world will take place, but you know, disinformation about health, about geopolitics also factoring in there. So, there is more emphasis on risk as a result of that report than I would normally expect here, where companies are the dominant voices, companies that normally sell you know, all the great visions that they have for what AI can achieve. And what's interesting is that while there are a lot of panels and other sessions around artificial intelligence focusing on global governance, with the role of the United Nations, for example, on trust and elections, on healthcare and AI, geopolitics and AI, you know, AI in the frontlines, these discussions seem to be kind of happening in parallel universes where there are those who are focusing very much on their concerns for civil liberties and the risk of state surveillance.

There are others who are saying, well, scientific breakthroughs are going to save the world. So what I hope will happen either here or in the coming year is that the analysis of what we must expect from AI will start leading to much more concrete policies and enforceable action, because otherwise we're going to continue to see this rapidly changing technology that has deep and wide impact on people all around the world without consequences. And I think we need to make sure that there are guardrails and that these are firm and that, yes, opportunities can be reaped, but certainly risks can be prevented. And hopefully the report and the discussions here in Davos with people coming into these mountains from around the world can actually be meaningful and have impact the coming year.

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Davos 2024: AI is having a moment at the World Economic Forum - GZERO Media

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When middle school math teachers completed an online professional development program that uses artificial intelligence to improve their math knowledge and teaching skills, their students math performance improved.

My colleagues and I developed this online professional development program, which relies on a virtual facilitator that can among other things present problems to the teacher around teaching math and provide feedback on the teachers answers.

Our goal was to enhance teachers mastery of knowledge and skills required to teach math effectively. These include understanding why the mathematical rules and procedures taught in school work. The program also focuses on common struggles students have as they learn a particular math concept, and how to use instructional tools and strategies to help them overcome these struggles.

We then conducted an experiment in which 53 middle school math teachers were randomly assigned to either this AI-based professional development or no additional training. On average, teachers spent 11 hours to complete the program. We then gave 1,727 of their students a math test. While students of these two groups of teachers started off with no difference in their math performance, the students taught by teachers who completed the program increased their mathematics performance by 0.18 of a standard deviation more on average. This is a statistically significant gain that is equal to the average math performance difference between sixth and seventh graders in the study.

Our project was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education.

This study demonstrates the potential for using AI technologies to create effective, widely accessible professional development for teachers. This is important because teachers often have limited access to high-quality professional development programs to improve their knowledge and teaching skills. Time conflicts or living in rural areas that are far from in-person professional development programs can prevent teachers from receiving the support they need.

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Additionally, many existing in-person professional development programs for teachers have been shown to enhance participants teaching knowledge and practices but to have little impact on student achievement.

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Effective professional development programs include opportunities for teachers to solve problems, analyze students work and observe teaching practices. Teachers also receive real-time support from the program facilitators. This is often a challenge for asynchronous online programs.

Our program addresses the limitations of asynchronous programs because the AI-supported virtual facilitator acts as a human instructor. It gives teachers authentic teaching activities to work on, asks questions to gauge their understanding and provides real-time feedback and guidance.

Advancements in AI technologies will allow researchers to develop more interactive, personalized learning environments for teachers. For example, the language processing systems used in generative AI programs such as ChatGPT can improve the ability of these programs to analyze teachers responses more accurately and provide more personalized learning opportunities. Also, AI technologies can be used to develop new learning materials so that programs similar to ours can be developed faster.

More importantly, AI-based professional development programs can collect rich, real-time interaction data. Such data makes it possible to investigate how learning from professional development occurs and therefore how programs can be made more effective. Despite billions of dollars being spent each year on professional development for teachers, research suggests that how teachers learn through professional development is not yet well understood.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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AI Can Teach Math Teachers How to Improve Student Skills - The 74

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The 2024 pulse surveyfrom the Deloitte AI Institute

The defining time for generative AI is now. How we train, apply, govern and work with generative AI will determine its impact. The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Now Decides Next is a survey series tracking trends in use cases, sentiment, adoption, and challenges throughout 2024. Explore findings now, and stay tuned for whats next.

Gain insight and follow trends from the leading edge of generative AI adoption.

Explore Now decides next: Insights from the leading edge of generative AI adoption.

79% of respondents expect generative AI to transform their organizations within three years. But in practice, they are most focused on gaining practical benefits today.

Given their focus on efficiency, how will business leaders achieve more innovative and transformative outcomes? For example, will companies invest efficiencies gained now to encourage innovation, evolve work roles, or uncover new ideas?

Among all the areas respondents need to address to adopt generative AI, they are most confident in their overall strategy and technology infrastructure.

But there is still work to be done. Respondents feel less confident in their level of preparedness around governance and talent. Concentrating on safeguards and workforce development is critical to fully unlocking generative AIs potential.

Only 47% of respondents agree that they are sufficiently educating their employees on the capabilities, benefits, and value of generative AI. However, most anticipate quickly evolving their talent strategies within the next two years.

Generative AI has massive implications for talentaltering how we work, learn, and collaborate. Organizations with the greatest expertise are putting high or very high levels of effort into three vital areas: workforce fluency, hiring, and reskilling.

Respondents currently show a mix of uncertainty and optimism in regard to generative AIs impact on society and the global economy, raising the question ... What is the role of individual organizations in addressing worldwide impact?

We see companies looking to global collaboration and regulation to help address their uncertainties. How will that translate to the responsible pursuit of generative AI benefitswithout creating or magnifying disparities?

Generative AI creates value by generating novel output of many kinds. Explore the modalities survey respondents are using now.

Text

Examples include summarizing documents, writing customer-facing materials, and explaining complex topics in natural language.

No surprise, text generation is widely used. See how.

Code

Examples include generating code from natural language descriptions and autonomously maintaining code across different platforms.

Code generation is being adopted rapidly. See where.

Audio

Examples include generative AI-powered call centers and troubleshooting support for technicians in the field.

Audio is making noise behind the scenes. See how.

Image

Examples include simulating how a product might look in a customers home and reconstructing an accident scene to assess insurance claims and liability.

Image tools are generating creativity and productivity.

Video

Examples include autonomously generating marketing videos to showcase a new product and simulating dangerous scenarios for safety training.

Video is taking off where volume is critical.

3D Models

Examples include creating virtual renderings in an omniverse environment and AI-assisted prototyping and design in a purely virtual space.

3D is clearly a next dimension in use. See early applications.

Relevant, incisive, timelyexplore our latest thinking

Now decides next: The state of generative AI in the enterprise is a quarterly report series by the Deloitte AI Institute exploring how actions taken now will guide Gen AI adoption and impact.

To help leaders in business, technology and the public sector track the rapid pace of generative AI change and adoption within the enterprise, Deloitte is conducting a series of quarterly pulse surveys. The first wave of our survey was fielded to more than 2,800 Director to C-suite level respondents across six industries and 16 countries between October 12 and December 5, 2023.

The Deloitte AI Institute helps organizations connect all the different dimensions of the robust, highly dynamic and rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. The AI Institute collaborates with an ecosystem composed of academic research groups, start-ups, entrepreneurs, innovators, mature AI product leaders, and AI visionaries, to explore key areas of artificial intelligence including risks, policies, ethics, future of work and talent, and applied AI use cases. Combined with Deloittes deep knowledge and experience the Institute delivers insights and information to help organizations better inform their AI decisions.

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State of Generative AI in the Enterprise 2024 - Deloitte