AI News caught up with Bob Briski, CTO of DEPT, to discuss the intricate fusion of creativity and technology that promises a new era in digital experiences.
At the core of DEPT’s approach is the strategic utilisation of large language models. Briski articulated the delicate balance between the ‘pioneering’ and ’boutique’ ethos encapsulated in their tagline, “pioneering work on a global scale with a boutique culture.”
While ‘pioneering’ and ’boutique’ evokes innovation and personalised attention, ‘global scale’ signifies the broad outreach. DEPT harnesses large language models to disseminate highly targeted, personalised messages to expansive audiences. These models, Briski pointed out, enable DEPT to comprehend individuals at a massive scale and foster meaningful and individualised interactions.
“The way that we have been using a lot of these large language models is really to deliver really small and targeted messages to a large audience,” says Briski.
However, the integration of AI into various domains – such as retail, sports, education, and healthcare – poses both opportunities and challenges. DEPT navigates this complexity by leveraging generative AI and large language models trained on diverse datasets, including vast repositories like Wikipedia and the Library of Congress.
Briski emphasised the importance of marrying pre-trained data with DEPT’s domain expertise to ensure precise contextual responses. This approach guarantees that clients receive accurate and relevant information tailored to their specific sectors.
“The pre-training of these models allows them to really expound upon a bunch of different domains,” explains Briski. “We can be pretty sure that the answer is correct and that we want to either send it back to the client or the consumer or some other system that is sitting in front of the consumer.”
One of DEPT’s standout achievements lies in its foray into the web3 space and the metaverse. Briski shared the company’s collaboration with Roblox, a platform synonymous with interactive user experiences. DEPT’s collaboration with Roblox revolves around empowering users to create and enjoy user-generated content at an unprecedented scale.
DEPT’s internal project, Prepare to Pioneer, epitomises its commitment to innovation by nurturing embryonic ideas within its ‘Greenhouse’. DEPT hones concepts to withstand the rigours of the external world, ensuring only the most robust ideas reach their clients.
“We have this internal project called The Greenhouse where we take these seeds of ideas and try to grow them into something that’s tough enough to handle the external world,” says Briski. “The ones that do survive are much more ready to use with our clients.”
While the allure of AI-driven solutions is undeniable, Briski underscored the need for caution. He warns that AI is not inherently transparent and trustworthy and emphasises the imperative of constructing robust foundations for quality assurance.
DEPT employs automated testing to ensure responses align with expectations. Briski also stressed the importance of setting stringent parameters to guide AI conversations, ensuring alignment with the company’s ethos and desired consumer interactions.
“It’s important to really keep focused on the exact conversation you want to have with your consumer or your customer and put really strict guardrails around how you would like the model to answer those questions,” explains Briski.
In December, DEPT is sponsoring AI & Big Data Expo Global and will be in attendance to share its unique insights. Briski is a speaker at the event and will be providing a deep dive into business intelligence (BI), illuminating strategies to enhance responsiveness through large language models.
“I’ll be diving into how we can transform BI to be much more responsive to the business, especially with the help of large language models,” says Briski.
As DEPT continues to redefine digital paradigms, we look forward to observing how the company’s innovations deliver a new era in AI-powered experiences.
DEPT is a key sponsor of this year’s AI & Big Data Expo Global on 30 Nov – 1 Dec 2023. Swing by DEPT’s booth to hear more about AI and LLMs from the company’s experts and watch Briski’s day one presentation.
