AI driving 5G growth but experts think skill gap is major challenge

A shortage of people with the requisite AI-related skills remains one of the major hindrances to the realisation of AI technology.

Experts say current trends indicate that although many countries are grappling with catching up with the fast-growing technology, there is a global skills gap.

Speaking during the 5G-A, AI, and Cloud media roundtable at the Shanghai MWC 2024, the experts said the world is almost 12 to 18 months behind but is catching up with the technology.

“The skill sets aren’t quite enough, and with the current way AI tools are used, it is different from the way we use search engines. We are going to have to put in place a big AI-related education programme for people to understand AI dynamics from its development and usage,” said Shaun Collins, Chairman of CCS Insight.

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Shaun said that sustainability and power-hungry issues will be among other bumps on the road toward the full realisation of AI.

“AI is deploying and being adopted faster than we expected, even in the fast market. When we asked our customers, over half of the people are using generative AI in some way in their daily work, which improves quality and efficiency,” he said.

While stressing that regulations and sanctions will not solve the prevailing challenges, Shaun said it is unfortunate that AI innovations and user illegalities are already driving technology growth.

Shaun said 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks are basically all better versions of the same thing.

He said 4G was very successful because it coincided with the emergence of smartphones and the App ecosystem.

That combination, he said, was the convergence of three very powerful forces that wouldn’t have been delivered.

“5G is fantastic, but to make it an absolute killer, it has to partner with other things. All of those things like Cloud and AI will do even better with 5G. It is that kind of symbiotic relationship that we are seeing,” said Shaun.

He said creating these partnerships from both a technological and commercial point of view is important.

“I haven’t been in one single meeting where at least 75 percent of that meeting has been taken up by AI. I don’t believe that it shouldn’t be taken up by AI. I am just surprised in a connectivity set situation such as MWC Shanghai that AI is playing such an enormous part in the thinking and planning of what’s coming next,” said Shaun.

Shaun said in their research, many enterprises, employees, and consumers said AI is going to make the biggest impact in their businesses and individual lives, but they do not know why and how.

“We see 5G being better because of AI in three aspects. First in the RAN. When you deploy it in the RAN, you will unquestionably be better off in the long run in the way you orchestrate it and manage its efficiency,” he said.

Shaun said globally, there is a gradual adoption of 5G standalone with more benefits coming with the additional layer of AI technology.

According to him, AI technology has allowed the industry to develop more quickly some of the things that they have been looking to do for a long time with 5G.

“We need standalone and certainly standalone core, not 4G core. Slicing and quality of service guarantee and dormancy,” he said.

Shaun argued that already the benefits of AI in the mobile world are being experienced with device manufacturers starting to think about how to deploy AI technology.

“If we combine AI with Cloud, you will be able to deploy it in a much more impactful way into our organisations and our lives. All of these are extremely important, and at the end of it all, we will also have to find ways to secure it,” said Shaun.

He said current trends indicate that AI will deploy and develop quicker, and it will have an impact on people’s daily lives quicker than anything that has been done before.

While arguing that 5G is fantastic on its own, Shaun said 5G will be fundamental in AI drive and become even better with Cloud.

Brian Chamberlain, Executive Advisor with Carrier Marketing, Huawei, said the combination of connectivity and the Cloud makes a dramatic difference in the digital world.

“It is not just connectivity, because that connectivity has to have a goal. It has to have a target and a goal. It has to have business functions. We are seeing technology really making a difference. When you see computing and AI, deliver it to the cloud, you can do some incredible things to help businesses deliver products and solutions, more efficiently than ever before,” said Chamberlain.

He said although it is essential to be connected all the time, it is the combination of technologies and the connection plus those services, delivered by the Cloud, and powered by AI, that is going to create incredible things going forward.

He said although AI is being used far deeper, the biggest challenge is how to secure the data.

“All operators are scratching their heads on data technology because it must be known where it is and who is using it,” said Chamberlain.

Chamberlain said consumer trends already indicate that AI is not just here, but it is being used in a way much broader than expected.

As a result, he said it is important to think about how secure data is in terms of where it is going and who has access to it.

“AI is levelling out the playing field in the developing world. One of the surprising experiences is that we heard some amazing applications from Algeria and Zimbabwe, which are emerging markets because they were looking at the problems from a very different angle than people in the advanced countries.

He said, “You don’t have to be living in the most advanced economy to be able to have the most advanced and exciting jobs. With this connectivity, anybody can reach the global market, and anybody can take advantage of the most advanced technology from wherever you are,” he said.

To him, data connection within the building infrastructure will play a key role in lowering the cost of deploying fibre networks.

He said China is ahead of the world because they came up with such regulations on data deployment that have proven to be an absolute golden path for connectivity.

“Many countries are grappling with data limitations because they do not have building codes that conform with technology change. For this, we foresee a situation where connectivity will determine data speeds that will have a direct impact on AI technology,” said Chamberlain.

“Countries should have the ability to experiment and make mistakes otherwise we are going to hold back everything and never grow. Such experiments forge innovative ways that the technology can be utilised to create positive change in society,” he said.

Chamberlain said even though new technology is opening up entrepreneurship opportunities to everyone, currently the technology market has become hyper-competitive.

“Nobody can afford to be inefficient in efficiency because studying the latest technology serves the purpose. For now, it is no longer a matter of capital but just the effort you put in,” he said.

The expert said geopolitics, like the tension between the US and China, also remains a major hindrance to calls for unified global technology standards.

He said many countries have money and the desire to roll out infrastructure that would place them among technology leaders, but a lack of global political goodwill has denied them that chance.

“What needs to be understood is the fact that governments will never work in the best interests of citizens. The existing regulations are to blame for driving up the cost of connectivity that will, in the future, affect the speed of tech evolution,” he said.