Momčilović: Artificial intelligence will raise more and more ethical questions to which we will not know the answers. It may be too late

How Croatia stands in the global AI arena, what opportunities are opening up for entrepreneurs, and what dangers the application of artificial intelligence carries were the topics of the round table at the Lider conference G.R.I.D., where an interesting intergenerational discussion developed. According to Martina Silov, director of the CROAI Association, the Croatian AI scene is currently very strong, and Croatia, as a country, is one of the leading countries in Europe considering its population and is doing wonders.

– Market analysis showed that in 2020 we had over 200 companies using artificial intelligence, and today there are 440, of which over 130 are startups. We are connected with all other AI associations in Europe, and everyone knows about CROAI and its contribution to demystifying AI. We are also launching a European AI Forum that aims to connect legislators and startup founders in one place – Silov emphasized, highlighting the example of two unicorns from Croatia, Rimac Automobiles and Infobip, and Photomath as a potential third unicorn whose company value ranges between 440 and 450 million euros.

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Martina Silov

photo Ratko Mavar

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In the discussion whether artificial intelligence will replace humans and ‘steal’ their jobs, she expressed her opinion that she sees AI as an auxiliary tool with which humanity will be able to change the way of life and which will take care of us. People will have the space to do something completely different than before, and she sees this as an opportunity for further development of human potential.

According to global research, the elimination of 300 million jobs is announced, or a quarter of them in the European Union will be replaced by artificial intelligence.

Aco Momčilović, co-founder of the Global AI Ethics Institute, believes that the topic of artificial intelligence is so important that all stakeholders must engage with it as soon as possible, especially the education system.

– The cards have not yet been dealt; they are still being dealt. Let’s play well with them, and in a few years, we will see how Croatia develops AI. We have enormous potential, but nothing will happen by itself. From this moment, we must take an active role and educate people, companies, and the wider public, involve the state and some of its decisions, legislative frameworks, and strategies – emphasized Momčilović.

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Aco Momčilović

photo Ratko Mavar

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Experts agree that technically speaking, ChatGPT is not a technically revolutionary discovery in the development of artificial intelligence; it currently represents only one percent of the possibilities of what we will use in the future, but Momčilović believes that we should not overlook the fact that such a small shift in technology has caused a significant leap in the perception of people, hundreds of millions of them, about the possibilities of artificial intelligence.

– It is important for people to regularly educate themselves in this segment because if they do not follow the development today, it will soon be difficult for them to keep up. Throughout history, technologies have replaced humans. AI will both destroy and create some jobs. The component that is historically different is that we do not know whether and when a time gap will appear in which you have destroyed jobs, and there is no substitution. Then a social problem arises – emphasized Momčilović.

Darko Tipurić, a professor at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, spoke about the social impact of AI, emphasizing that in the context of the replaceability of humans by technology, no one yet knows how humanity will live, what it will engage in, and whether it will be sufficient.

– Those who do not follow and are not in AI will not be able to be present or competitive anywhere in the world in a few years. They will be excluded from normal flows, leading to social collapse. With AI, do not expect evolution. There will be a devolvement and revolution – emphasized Tipurić. He also explained that humanity, under certain propaganda, changes attitudes very easily, but that the use of AI will act ideologically. Tipurić believes that there will be social aberration and a change in the way we perceive truth.

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Darko Tipurić

photo Ratko Mavar

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– Although I am a postmodernist, I fear that everyone will have their own truth. No regulation can respond to dystopian dangers – believes Tipurić.

However, he believes that AI will have a positive effect on creating new business models, new services, and a new generation of entrepreneurs.

As Vedran Antoljak, a consultant for digital and business transformation from Best Advisory, said, among students today, only 20 percent use ChatGPT, while others believe it is not good and ‘that it will replace human jobs’.

– We have an opportunity; we are in the same arena as Beijing, New York, or any world city with which we can compete with the same resources. It is up to us to decide whether we want to learn through everyday experiences. I believe we can have another unicorn in the world – said Antoljak, mentioning that a ChatGPT engineer earns 352 thousand dollars a year.

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Vedran Antoljak

photo Ratko Mavar

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In Croatia, he said, entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of AI, which is evident from their demand for consulting services. The number of companies in Croatia using AI tools is between 20 and 40 percent, while Momčilović’s data at the global level states that only 10 percent of companies are ready for artificial intelligence.

– Today we are creating the directions of the future. Education and healthcare will have the most investments in the next ten years. Let’s take advantage of that. Those who are ready to implement systems of strategic agility will reap the rewards – concludes Antoljak.

Momčilović also pointed out that large tech companies will continue to release AI products without sufficient testing, to take as large a slice of the market as possible and that ethical criteria are being lowered for economic reasons.

– On one hand, there are experts who want to slow down the growth of artificial intelligence, and on the other, it is unfeasible because not all actors can be told to stop development until Europe agrees on a regulatory framework. Thus, in the future, more and more ethical questions will arise, which we do not even count on today and which we may not know the answers to for a long time. It may even be wonderful – emphasized Momčilović.

Silov understands the fear but believes that regulation cannot be an excuse.

– We must be much more open and allow startups to develop in safe conditions and test their products in the global market – she said.

All interlocutors agreed that there are currently no scientists who can provide reliable predictions about the impact of artificial intelligence on human intelligence. They agree that we are heading into an unknown direction, not knowing how quickly technology will develop or what the social consequences will be. What everyone agrees on is that those who do not jump on the train in time will have significant problems, not only with competitiveness but also with survival.

After the panel discussion, the stage of the Lider forum was taken by Tomislav Hernaus and Matija Marić from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, who presented their research on creativity and innovation in the workplace. They also wrote a book of the same name, and one of the first findings is that of all societal stakeholders – governments, academia, entrepreneurs, students – the most innovation in companies comes precisely from employees. For this reason, Hernaus and Marić emphasized that it is extremely important for employees to be motivated, with an emphasis on intrinsic motivation that fosters creativity.

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Tomislav Hernaus

photo Ratko Mavar

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When asked what is more important, a creative manager or an innovative employee, Marić replied that it is a win-win situation if the company has both, but it is not always good for everyone in the organization to be creative and innovative.

– You also need to have analysts because heterogeneity makes the best mix. But managers must have understanding and give space for employees to develop their ideas. Job design is something everyone can do for free. The problem is not material rewards but non-material rewards, how to make work more interesting so that employees are more satisfied, creative, innovative, and productive – concluded Marić.

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Matija Marić

photo Ratko Mavar

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