From the Publisher

Looking back from the vantage point of the final days of 2024, it feels like the year was one of disruption – in politics, in global affairs, in markets. But I’ll make a bet – to be settled in a decade’s time – that the most significant of these has been the creeping disruption of generative artificial intelligence.

Just two years ago, ChatGPT burst on the world stage like a fireball in the night. While AI had been steadily making advances, it was ChatGPT’s instant dissemination that put AI into the hands of anyone with a decent internet connection. Within days – or was it hours? – examples of AI creations flooded media and emails. And immediately began the debate: was this new tool humanity’s friend or foe?

At the Milken Institute, we’ve been active hosts of the discussion. I’ve been struck by how thirsty everyone is for insight and understanding, with those at the top of organizations – CEOs and their nonprofit and public sector counterparts – especially keen. That’s no surprise, since generative AI represents the kind of paradigm-shifting challenge (and opportunity) that leaders are paid the big bucks to be on top of. Thus, in the Milken Institute’s convenings throughout 2024, we created sessions providing deep and differentiated insight into how AI will shape the future.

One notable recent example I commend to you is a panel at our December Middle East and Africa Summit titled “AI: Multiplier or Divider?” Check out the chilling insight on how AI could benefit North Korea’s nuclear weapons program at the 11-minute mark.

Of course, AI is already at work in shaping our present, in ways great and small. Here are a few examples in daily work. For virtual meetings, AI notetakers provide summaries of the discussion almost as quickly as participants have closed their laptops. Automated customer service calls are more efficient and less annoying than in the past, as businesses embrace technology that provides nearly human responses. And in my office, one colleague shares messages in ChatGPT-created poetry during our events. The doggerel poses no threat to Shakespeare, but it brings a welcome chuckle to busy colleagues.

Even as we chuckle, though, our comprehension grows of how truly disruptive Gen AI is. In the new year and beyond, as we all continue to search for understanding, the Milken Institute will continue to provide insight in these issues. And my personal pledge is that these letters will continue to be written without robotic assistance – for good or ill.

Conrad Kiechel, Publisher