Members of the UW-Stevens Point Continuing Education & Outreach staff as well as members of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) staff greeted participants upon arrival at the AI Innovations at Work conference held February 23. Attendees felt both welcomed and prepared for the day as staff members distributed agendas outlining keynote speakers and available breakout sessions.
The first informational session was hosted by Secretary of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Amy Pechacek. Pechacek shared the story of a needed solution to address the mass volume of unemployment insurance claims submitted during the years most affected by the COVID pandemic. She contacted Google to help create “Judy the Adjudicator,” an artificial intelligence platform that was able to process the 770,000 claims overnight.
She also shared details on the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce Development and Artificial intelligence. The task force serves as a mechanism to adapt and equip Wisconsin’s workforce during the current transformation to AI technologies. Wisconsin employers and educational intuitions are already implementing AI applications in many fields including healthcare, the focus of the AI Innovations at Work event.
Next, keynote speaker Ron Galloway discussed jobs most impacted by AI technologies, including the introduction of AI in creative fields like music, video and photography. He likened the AI movement to similar “world changing” technologies of the past and cited how AI can now be used to address new issues such as helping medical workers during the current doctor shortage.
Galloway explained the difference between algorithmic AI, which follows prescribed rules, and generative AI, which infers patterns and creates its own material. He stressed the importance and impact of AI requiring lots of electricity as well as lots of water (to cool processors). He gave examples of AI use in education to provide homeschool teachers, in HVAC to obtain energy efficiencies, in manufacturing to manage supply chain and predict maintenance and even in drone warfare.
Galloway also hosted one of the first breakout sessions “Data to Diagnostics” which discussed ethical considerations of AI usage in medical practices. Galloway dove into specific practices being proposed and used to improve healthcare. He presented examples of AI used to increase efficiencies in hospital testing, described how telehealth powered by AI can provide rural communities’ access to specialty medical experts and explained ways seniors could access the technology in care facilities. His overall thesis revolved around ‘How can AI and its data improve medicine for and the lives of all?’
Israel Squires of Midpoint Consulting presented during another breakout session, giving details on how “The Smart Enterprise” is changing jobs. He explained that the “Smart Enterprise” includes guidelines for infrastructure capacity, human adaptability and change management. He cited essential human-based skills and competencies like empathy and critical thinking that need to be considered. Squires gave examples of how the hiring process, which typically involves up to 15 people, could be narrowed to two or three people using AI. Squires explained how much of the AI in use currently is machine learning and “augmented intelligence.”
Heather Ferguson, of the UW-Madison SBDC, hosted two breakout sessions: one about using AI tools and prompt engineering and the second about specific cases for AI tools. Her interactive presentation helped attendees understand just how AI finds patterns to create generative information. She gave key details on how to use the language of AI when writing prompts, including the advice to be specific, include action verbs, provide context and mention desired output.
Ferguson went on to showcase examples of AI tools in common use. She walked through sample prompt generation exercises across platforms from ChatGPT for content creation, to Perplexity for basic research purposes, to Gemini for transcribing notes and to Speechify for AI voiceover and more. She left the audience with the call to action: “Just try it! Some results will be awesome and some disastrous but with the changing landscape, experimentation is key.”
Ferguson said, “At the SBDC, we work to provide our clients actionable ways to improve their businesses. When AI became a hot topic, our office at UW-Madison saw an opportunity to help entrepreneurs make big strides at low costs and vowed to be ‘AI Explorers.’ In talking to some of the attendees at this event, I felt further affirmed that the ‘Always Improving’ mindset of entrepreneurs should serve them well in the ever-changing AI landscape.”
Tracie Risling, a medical professional at the University of Calgary, spoke on specifics of how AI is changing the healthcare industry and health education. She explained different types of AI such as reactive AI and limited memory which are already in use as well as theory of mind and self-aware AI which are ideas of the future.
Risling spoke of the dangers of misinformation and disinformation in AI. She mentioned the top ten AI trends in healthcare with diagnostics and personalized healthcare and medicine at the top of the list. She expressed the changes in human resources and other resource management that come with the use of AI.
Spencer X. Smith highlighted methodologies of AI for effective and efficient use during his session. He spoke of specific capabilities of platforms such as Chat GPT, Gemini and Copilot. He discussed the ability to limit AI results to evidence provided in specific documents as opposed to the entire internet. Attendees were happy to share their own experiences and ask questions during this informative session.
The day wrapped up with Nick Meyers of RedFox AI. He told the tale of how his own experience with childhood leukemia led to the discovery of a problem he wanted to solve: improving at-home diagnostics for patients. He offered details of how AI-driven personalized care is truly revolutionizing the economics of healthcare today.
