This technology will change everything

Journalist: David Strohm | Photographer: Markus Bertschi

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the analysis of large amounts of data are raising hopes. What added value do the new technologies offer in your view?
I think we can only guess at many of the positive effects at the moment. I am still convinced though that generative AI, which we are talking about here, will help us to solve problems that we can’t solve today or that we don’t even know about yet, for example in areas such as health or climate. We want to develop our products, services and processes further in such a way that the new technologies effectively create additional benefits.

In your opinion, what conditions are necessary for these technologies to develop optimally?
Quite a lot! Firstly, the technical foundations – this includes the availability of large quantities of data and the right kind of platforms to work with them. Having the organisational requirements and expertise is just as important, though. We need to understand how we can use these technologies in the first place and what opportunities they offer. There are also questions of governance and ethics. It is important to create the necessary trust first. Ideally, users won’t even notice that these technologies are being used.

Locational advantages and the culture of innovation in Switzerland are also necessary. Your company will also benefit from this.
It is true that Switzerland has a healthy culture of innovation and offers a good breeding ground for start-ups. It’s only a small market, though. It is often difficult for founders to scale up solutions and finance growth. This is something that needs to be improved on. This spring, UBS and Swisscom launched the Deeptech Nation Switzerland Foundation as founding partners. Its aim is to ensure that start-ups and scale-ups in the research-intensive technology sector have better conditions for further development and growth.

Swisscom is already a leader in the development of AI applications and big data in Switzerland in many respects. What contribution is Swisscom making to improving the culture of innovation?
As a company, we want to lead by example. Our own guidelines, the rules we have set ourselves with regard to how to deal with the new technologies, should set an example for others. They are intended to help other companies to learn about AI more quickly, exploit its potential and build their own infrastructure responsibly. To this end, we are launching offerings for our business customers. We support them in structuring the topic, developing initial use cases and implementing applications. We make our consulting teams available for this purpose and offer the relevant technology.

What are Swisscom’s ethical considerations when it comes to data protection and data processing?
Our own governance strategy is based on European standards. In the EU, there is a risk-based approach with different levels. We have developed a catalogue of questions so that the teams can find out which risk category they are in. There are different measures that need to be implemented depending on the category. It starts with transparency: you have to make it clear that it is an AI-based system, so that people know whether they’re talking to a human or a robot. Further rules include which data may be used, how and when, and how the data are to be protected. Some applications are explicitly not allowed or not wanted.

Can you tell us which ones?
We avoid anything that we know is unlikely to meet customer expectations and which is already considered a prohibited practice under the EU’s AI Act. For example, sentiment analysis can now be used to determine an employee’s mood in a telephone conversation based on their voice, allowing AI to recognise exactly whether someone is happy or angry. Such an application would fall into the ‘prohibited’ category here.

What does responsible technology design look like?
As far as I’m concerned, one indicator is whether you can say with a clear conscience that what you’re doing makes sense. Conversely, if you feel that you can’t explain why you’re doing it, then it’s better not to do it. As a company, we try to handle these technologies responsibly and use them in the way that the majority of our customers expect us to.

What measures does Swisscom take to protect itself and its customers against data misuse and cybercrime?
Our main concern is to protect our own infrastructure. Attacks are becoming more and more insidious. We try to use technical measures to counter this so that when mistakes do happen, they aren’t repeated or don’t have such serious consequences. We are also working on making our customers and employees more aware of the problem. As well as this, we’re also working on enhancing the level of protection and being able to react at any time. Unfortunately though, you can never be completely protected against cyber abuse.

What role do research and development play in relation to data analysis within Swisscom’s strategic planning?
In its partnerships with universities and colleges Swisscom is mainly involved in applied research and supporting master’s and doctoral students, for example in the areas of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The aim is to move from research to application more quickly. We invest around 20% of our revenue, or 1.7bnCHF per year, in our networks and IT infrastructure, with around 30% going towards expanding the fibre-optic network. However, Swisscom sees itself more as a user than a developer.

How can you make up for the loss of human/personal interaction?
The latest bots can already do an amazing amount. The next step is likely to be a kind of digital human whose voice and facial expressions are hardly any different from those of a real person. We are not far away from that. At Swisscom there will still be human interaction in the shops and on the phone in future. As a multi-channel company, we give customers the choice of when they want to communicate with us, and whom to speak to.

At the beginning of this year, Swisscom announced an AI offensive with 100mCHF in relevant investments. What will the focus be on?
The most important thing is the provision of a Switzerland-based AI infrastructure, which is an extension of our existing cloud offering. Models can then be trained and applied using this infrastructure. This alone requires a big capital investment.

Your company is already successfully using AI in many areas. What kind of feedback are you getting from your customers?
The reactions are generally positive. The technology is improving extremely quickly. What customers are most interested in at the moment is how they can use the technology to become more efficient and to improve and automate processes. They want to know what works and what is realistic. They are also eager to know where this technology is still unreliable and prone to errors.

What new applications can we expect?
I believe that AI will be used everywhere in the future, in all occupations and industries. This technology will change everything. At the moment, the learning curve is extremely steep. The important thing is to stay on the ball and use the technology in a way that’s advantageous to everyone. It feels a bit like the late 1990s when the internet and mobile phones were starting to change everything. Nowadays, we hardly do anything without a mobile phone and the internet. I think AI will have a similar impact – probably an even bigger one.