The State of AI in Minnesota Business
September 20, 2023
Is artificial intelligence going to take our jobs? With the introduction of advanced chatbots like ChatGPT and Jasper late last year, that’s the question on many people’s minds these days. On Monday, Twin Cities Startup Week organizers convened a pair high-level panels to sort through the latest round of AI hype.
The answer, of course, is complicated. To hear AI advocates tell it, the technology probably won’t ever fully replace human work, but it may become complementary – and perhaps even necessary amid declining populations in Minnesota and elsewhere.
First things first: Artificial intelligence, as a concept, isn’t really new. The content on our social media feeds, for instance, has for years been determined by AI programs. The very term “artificial intelligence” dates back to at least the 1950s, when Dartmouth College mathematics professor John McCarthy convened a summer workshop on the topic in New Hampshire. Since then, there have been cyclical patterns of “AI summers and AI winters,” said Justin Grammens, founder and CEO of St. Paul-based software firm Lab651.