Artificial Intelligence isn’t just internet slop. Just like any other new and shifting trend, AI is top of mind for our team at Ceisler Media – as a burgeoning industry, an efficiency tool, an ethical consideration and a practice area for clients. 

That’s one of the reasons I attended the second annual AI Horizons Summit, which brought together key industry executives, business leaders, policymakers, academics, stakeholders, and local, state and federal officials to discuss the evolution of AI and Pittsburgh’s role as a hub for physical AI development. 

Pittsburgh might not be the first city that comes to mind when thinking about artificial intelligence, tech, and innovation but it should be.  An ecosystem of robotics companies, AI startups, and leading research institutions currently thrives in the city. The new AI Strike Team is working to ensure the city becomes the premier hub for AI innovation and investment. 

As a native Pittsburgher and someone working in PR and strategic communications, I found the Summit inspiring and illuminating.  

Here are a few key takeaways from the Summit:  

• AI is and will continue to completely revolutionize every industry and even our daily lives in many ways that we can’t fully understand yet because technology continues to advance.  

• When it comes to AI and ethics, governments and elected officials need to continue to monitor issues like transparency, accountability, privacy, job displacement, bias and fairness and economic impact. Some are already being proactive, like Allegheny County’s guidelines for how employees can use AI in research, data collection and other tasks. 

• Industries like healthcare, finance, sports, manufacturing, defense, robotics, and media have been using AI to support their business operations for several years. BNY Mellon’s AI supercomputer has been accelerating processing capacity for half a decade. 

Pennsylvania is emerging as a major data center hub, thanks in large part to private and public investments. Expect more conversations and more headlines about economic impact, energy sources and land development.