From personal computer to innovation enabler

Until recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has largely been operating in the background—quietly automating processes and improving performance. Yet the unprecedented adoption curve of generative AI represents an explosive change in how humans interface with technology, through natural language and conversation. This is not just a seismic wave, but a tectonic shift that will alter how we live, and work, forever.

If taken to its full potential, a study estimates that generative AI could add more than $4 trillion annually to the global economy, and add $366 billion to the Indonesian economy by 2030. This, on top of the extra $11 trillion that nongenerative AI and other forms of automation are forecast to contribute globally. This incredible scale and potential impact of AI makes international cooperation essential, especially regarding regulation.

While caution is justified, so is excitement—because with great change, comes great opportunity.

A new era for the PC. Most people’s experiences with generative AI so far have been through web browsers and the cloud, which brings all the reliability, speed, and privacy challenges that come with any online-only, open access, and corporate-owned platforms. Put generative AI on the PC though, and users can get all the benefits without the drawbacks. AI will change the role of the PC as dramatically and fundamentally as the internet did, because the AI PC will empower more people to become creators of technology, rather than just consumers of it.

Capitalizing on engineering strengths can create powerful new machines optimized for running local AI models—which can still leverage the hybrid cloud as well as local inferencing to work offline. Local inferencing and data processing also mean less latency and opportunities for stronger data privacy and security, as well as improved energy efficiency and lower cost of access. This can turn your PC into an intelligent personal companion that can keep your information safe while doing tasks for you because on-device AI can access all the same, specific emails, presentations, reports, and spreadsheets that you do.

Meanwhile, the work to use AI for improving PC performance and functionality will continue to accelerate to improve the hybrid work experience, including everything from noise reduction and voice enhancement to AI-powered cameras that automatically optimize framing, focus, and lighting for better video calls.

Making endpoint security more vital. Since on-device AI will be trained with sensitive user data, endpoints will become a bigger and more valuable target for threat actors. It is then vital that organizations invest in advanced endpoint security that limits hazardous activities by creating virtual machines that are separate from the PC operating system.

New era for human creativity. New research is already demonstrating the positive effects of AI on knowledge worker productivity and quality across a range of tasks that make up people’s daily work, from creativity and analytical thinking to writing proficiency and persuasiveness: Use of ChatGPT-4 significantly increases performance, boosting speed by over 25 percent, human-rated performance by over 40 percent, and task completion by over 12 percent. Imagine the possible use cases when your personal companion integrates your internal company and personalized working data, while still helping you quickly analyze vast volumes of public information to combine the best and most relevant of both. Whether you’re looking for customer insights, conducting financial assessments, or creating a presentation—everything can be done faster, more comprehensively and privately, with the power of local AI and efficient, real-time delivery.

In Indonesia, workers also see AI as a bright spot for opportunity and progress. Up to 70 percent of knowledge workers believe that AI will allow them to offload repetitive tasks to focus more on productive work, and 73 percent of them are positive that AI will open up new opportunities to enjoy work. We also foresee new roles and opportunities for data scientists and AI developers, as well as huge demand for machine learning as a service—because every company will eventually have its own private and tailored generative AI model for employees to use securely.

Driving business transformation. We have never been as excited about the future of the PC as we are now—and the power of AI to reinvent the PC as we know it. And of course, we are using this technology in our own work, leveraging the latest in generative AI and machine learning to drive HP’s own perpetual digital transformation. This is a revolution that can have positive impacts for everyone if we adopt the right ethical and strategic approach. The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

Choon Teck Lim is managing director of HP Indonesia. This article was published in collaboration with HP Indonesia.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is a member of the Asia News Network, an alliance of 22 media titles in the region.