Unfiltered Stories | Responsible AI in the enterprise - at the Metaverse Institute

Unfiltered Stories | Responsible AI in the enterprise – at the Metaverse Institute

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Unfiltered Stories | Responsible AI in the enterprise – at the Metaverse Institute

Many argue you can’t scale the use of GenAI in the enterprise if you haven’t cracked the challenge of Responsible AI. David Cushman spoke to a range of enterprise leaders attending a recent HFS round table in London to hear how they are tackling this. In this edition we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of The Metaverse Institute.

You will learn:

Why ESG measures must be built into your Responsible AI practices?
What makes GenAI different from previous technologies?
Are enterprises set up to handle the new governance demands it places on them? If not, what do they need to do?

You can listen above or watch this HFS Videocast here:

Ignore the environmental challenge of GenAI and your ESG aspirations could unravel overnight.

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Explore more videos in this exploration of Responsible AI in the enterprise here:

This transcript was auto-generated from the original recording and lightly edited for readability. We've done our best to catch errors, but names, technical terms, and company references may be misspelled or imperfectly captured. For the definitive version, please refer to the original audio or video. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

SPEAKERS

David Cushman Executive Research Leader, HFS Research (host)

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang CEO, The Metaverse Institute

Top three takeaways

Christina argues that wider AI has been deployed across industries and regions for decades with mature supporting governance, so generative AI is not entirely uncharted territory even though it has dominated attention over the past two years.
Enterprises tend to rush at any topical frontier technology out of fear of missing major opportunities, which shapes how quickly they adopt GenAI.
Three governance gaps stand out: unclear IP ownership for GenAI-created products and services, unresolved legal liability, and the environmental impact of large-scale AI.
Environmental sustainability—data-center heat, water shortage, and carbon-footprint mandates—must be built into enterprise AI governance rather than treated as an afterthought.
Companies should balance the profit potential of GenAI against their broader purpose, because commercial gains mean little if the environment we live in becomes unsustainable.

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang — CEO, Metaverse Institute[00:09]

Hi, David. It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of the Metaverse Institute. We do advisory work for the United Nations, governments, investors, and big entities. I also co-chair the United Nations International Telecommunication Union’s task group on using many different frontier technologies to develop a standardization process for governments worldwide.

David Cushman — HFS Research[00:36]

That puts you in an interesting, perhaps unique position to think about the impact of generative AI. I’m thinking about it today in terms of its impact in the enterprise. And it seems to me that we’ve had different waves of technologies. Have we got the governance right, or does the governance need to change because of the way GenAI is different somehow from previous technologies?

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang — CEO, Metaverse Institute[00:46]

In general, I think within the enterprise environment we all have this kind of trend: if some frontier technology becomes really topical or popular, everyone wants to ensure they are not left out, because they are worried in case they are missing all the major opportunities. If you’re looking at the wider AI developments, it’s nothing new. Even though generative AI has been really hot perhaps in the last two years, the wider AI deployment across industries, across regions has been there for many, many decades. It’s already very well developed, and there are relevant governance to support that development.

David Cushman — HFS Research[01:32]

So do you think we’re in good shape?

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang — CEO, Metaverse Institute[01:32]

I think there are quite a few major issues. The first thing is IP protection rights, because worldwide we all know that if you use generative AI related tools to create new products, new services, there are no clear rules on the national and international regulator side to clearly articulate who owns the IP. That’s the first thing. Another thing a lot of companies will be thinking about is legal liability. And the third major concern I think everyone needs to be aware of is the environmental impact. We’re not only talking about how to reduce the heat of all the massive computing power in the data center; we’re also talking about water shortage.

David Cushman — HFS Research[02:18]

So you’re saying they need to include this as part of their governance.

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang — CEO, Metaverse Institute[02:18]

Absolutely, because within different jurisdictions they will have a mandate. You have to review how the whole enterprise is actually compliant to meet the carbon footprint. So we shouldn’t only be looking at the exciting part of generative AI, which is potentially getting more profit to the company, but we also need to make a very sound balance with the purpose of the company. Because in the end, you can make all the money in the world, but if the environment we live in is not sustainable and we’re all going to be barbecued, that doesn’t sound quite right, right?

David Cushman — HFS Research[03:03]

Thank you very much.

Dr. Christina Yan Zhang — CEO, Metaverse Institute[03:03]

You’re welcome.

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