Microsoft Exec Outlines Ways to Make AI More Accessible

“The real questions are whether artificial intelligence will end up as nothing more than just a buzzword, and what can be done to make it more accessible to everyone,” Ami Luttwak, chief technology officer at Microsoft’s Israel research and development center, said.

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Luttwak spoke Tuesday at Calcalist’s annual Mind the Data conference in Tel Aviv, held in collaboration with Israel’s Bank Leumi and accounting firm KPMG.

Luttwak joined Microsoft in 2015 when it acquired Adallom Inc., an Israel-based cloud security company he co-founded. A veteran of the Israeli Intelligence Corps, Luttwak also led Microsoft’s online and cloud information security team.

According to Luttwak, the main challenge is that the field of AI is currently dominated by big companies that hold most of the resources, as well as the biggest databases. Amazon, for example, has millions of customers, so its algorithms can process more information and come to more accurate conclusions than those used by a small ma and pa shop, he said.

Public services such as governments, health maintenance organizations, and public transportation companies need to open up their databases to the public to help small businesses and private individuals, Luttwak said.

Luttwak also finds it vital to bring more people into the field of data management and artificial intelligence. You do not need a PhD to use available AI tools, he said, adding that with proper training, unskilled workers could enter the field, alleviating the notorious talent crunch the local industry is suffering from.