Artificial intelligence
AI serving our exhibition needs?
EW finds how members of the UFI Digital Innovation Committee view AI
Matthias (Tesi) Baur,
founder and Senior Con-
sultant in International
Business, Exhibitions and
Digital Transformation at
MBB-Consulting Group:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a
digital hot topic that’s sure to
dominate discussions in the
months to come. Indeed, in a
recent article by Stephan For-
seilles, the Digital Innovation
Committee identified AI as
a key development to influ-
ence the exhibition industry.
Recent research has shown
that most C-level managers
in the industry see AI as a
positive development for the
exhibition world. However,
will we make the same mis-
take with AI as we have with
social media, staying largely
inactive and not pushing for
developments that specifi-
cally serve our needs? In the
past, topics such as ‘social me-
dia’ and ‘communities’ fea-
tured heavily in discussions,
yet no proactive steps were
taken. Too often, we wait un-
til a supplier develops digital
functionality to enhance our
business model for us.
As an industry, we should
be more proactive in specify-
ing and investigating which
AI functionality could en-
hance our offering for cus-
tomers.
How does the UFI Digital
Innovation Committee view
AI? On the right are some
comments from our group
members that describe the
potential it offers business:
Stephan
Forseilles:
“AI is potentially a revolution
for our societies. Some think it
will impact us as much as the
invention of fire or the wheel.
However, AI is not a miracle so-
lution to all our problems. We
have to make sure we properly
educate everyone in our or-
ganisations (but particularly
in our C-suite) about the real
capabilities of AI. It needs to
become another natural tool in
their strategic arsenal.”
Peter
Tubak:
“Every new technology is a po-
tential source of new services
and products. As AI imitates
(follows) the processes of hu-
man cognition, it is predes-
tined to have a game-changing
role in industries dealing with
human interactions. I am sure
that, with the evolving power
and miniaturisation of ‘AI
hardware’, we will see start-
ups growing up and reform-
ing/reshaping (maybe even
disrupting) the event industry.”
Issue 2 2020
Maria
Drozdova:
“AI is an essential part of tech-
nological progress and it will
continue to develop rapidly in
the years to come. How will it
influence the event industry,
with a great degree of human
resource involvement and the
contribution of certain person-
alities playing a significant and
determining role? AI doesn’t
have to replace people, but
it can simplify and speed up
the processes. To help arrange
meetings? Yes. To choose your
business partner or to contrib-
ute to the dialogue? Not sure
at all. AI is a tool and human is
still human.”
brought to us things that
have extended the human
experience in some profound
ways. AI will support the
event industry by reading
data streams and interpreting
them to help us get better at
what we are doing. There are
many opportunities where
AI can enhance the event
experience – by conversing
with humans in a natural
language, by identifying
emotions and by recognising
objects. What the providers
of such solutions will have
to learn is to build systems
that have ethical and moral
values.
“It is clear that AI is
important and that it offers
huge potential for us as an
industry. We need to combine
our expertise to push this
topic forward. As the Digital
Innovation Committee, we
are dedicated to providing
a platform for this topic.
Please talk to us and share
your thoughts and any best
practices you’ve seen so that
we can share this with the
industry as a whole.”
Silke
Hoersch:
Gunnar
Heinrich:
“To make AI a real competitive
differentiator (and it definitely
56
has the potential to be exactly
that), it also needs a data strat-
egy and valid data. In our in-
dustry, you often find at C-level
still only the vague feeling that
data could be somehow ben-
eficial. But then it is lacking a
clear idea of how to derive a
data strategy from the overall
corporate strategy and put it
into action.”
“Every new technology brings
with it some measure of fear.
When we first saw trains,
critics said mankind will pay
for the hellish invention. In
fact, new technologies have
For more information,
check out the group sec-
tion: https://www.ufi.org/
about/committees/digital-
innovation-committee/
objectives-and-chair/
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk