Futur Intelligence: The thousand facets of AI deciphered in Toulouse
An event turned towards the future and towards the world. Futur Intelligence, a convention dedicated to artificial intelligence, will take place on October 25 and 26 at the Cité in Toulouse. “Originally, there was a conference at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (Cnam) in Paris in 2019. Between Occitan AI players, this made us want to create an event, an Occitan label but with a ambition above all national and international. After two editions in Toulouse. We will certainly do the third in Paris, then we will perhaps go to other French cities”, summarizes Luc Marta de Andrade, president of NXU, a think tank which participated in the organization of the convention.
Alongside him, Occitan organizations such as Aerospace Valley, La Mêlée, Digital 113, Medef 31, Ekitia and Ad’Occ. But also national structures such as Numeum, the professional union of the digital industry; the IANP of researcher Thierry Berthier or the hub France AI, an association promoted by the French State. The event company ABE (Advanced Business Events) takes care of the organization from a practical and logistical point of view.
“After a first remote edition where we set the scene by presenting the major challenges of AI, this year we are going to see these applications more concretely. Three themes will be particularly highlighted: space, carbon-free mobility and cultural and creative industries,” announces Luc Marta de Andrade. Among the guests expected at the end of October, the Minister Delegate for the Digital Transition Jean-Noël Barrot; former president of the Chilean senate Guido Girardi; The musician Jean-Michel Jarre, known for his work in electronic music, or the scientist and former astronaut Claudie Haigneré. Chilean, Spanish and Quebec experts will be present for an international event that can also be followed remotely.
A long history and ethics
For the president of NXU, we must not forget that AI is a long story: “It’s an old technology that dates back to the 1950s. In France, a researcher like Françoise Soulier has been interested in it since the 1960s,” says Luc Marta de Andrade. Fascinated by the functioning of the human brain and its neural networks, scientists dream of machines and technologies that imitate this functioning.
“Through statistics and algorithmic functions, we wanted to transpose the functioning of the brain. At the start, the computer did not have the necessary power to obtain very convincing results. Technology experienced an acceleration in the 2000s and especially after 2010. But in reality, the functioning of the human brain is still very mysterious for scientists. The machine will probably never be able to replace it, ”says the Occitan expert.
To try to think like a human being, the machine needs huge amounts of data. And the challenge lies in managing them. “We must be sovereign in the protection and proper use of this massive data,” said Luc Marta de Andrade. According to him, “things are progressing in Europe and in France (…) no need to go to Palo-Alto, to discover innovative AI solutions,” humorously underlines the manager, also at the head of the consulting firm. U-need Consulting, digital transformation oriented.
At Futur Intelligence, although less central than last year, “the ethical questioning” raised by AI is not ignored. By allowing in the long term “to create added value without human intervention”, artificial intelligence raises for example “the question of the meaning and place of work of men”. A subject far from being artificial which should challenge the intelligences present.
Mathias Hardoy
Pictured: Image of a networking event at the city of Toulouse – the only face-to-face element – during the previous Futur Intelligence. Credit: ABE – DR.