This report is from our partner Little Rock Public Radio.
Arkansas will host its first-ever artificial intelligence business conference later this month. The event will focus on how industries and small businesses can integrate AI into their operations.
The discussion will feature members of the local AI Task Force and other guests, including keynote speaker Elizabeth Edwards, founder of Volume PR and the Engagement Science Lab. Edwards says AI has the power to transform the workplace—but she believes there’s still space for human contribution.
Elizabeth Edwards: This is a great creator of jobs and opportunities. It is something—I'll say—that if we don't learn, there will be fewer jobs for us in the workforce. We are already not hiring anyone who doesn't understand how to use AI or doesn't have a deep appetite for wanting to incorporate it.
One concern surrounding AI’s rapid growth is its energy usage. But Edwards says that’s only part of the picture.
Elizabeth Edwards: We are very able to codify the energy that AI uses directly, but there isn’t a nice, neat calculus for how much we’ve replaced—how much we’re no longer using—and the energy resources tied to those things. For many of the things that AI is replacing in our businesses, that tradeoff matters.
The AI Business Conference is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 15, at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Registration is open through Aug. 8.
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