Egiss is proud to partner with Lenovo, a global technology giant renowned for its cutting-edge advancements. Through this partnership, we leverage Lenovo’s deep expertise and thought leadership in AI to provide you with the latest innovations and industry disruptions driven by AI.
Jesper Marker, the 4P Manager for Workstation Nordic at Lenovo, offers valuable insights into how Lenovo is shaping the future of AI technology. Read on to explore the transformative power of AI technology in reshaping industries.
Lenovo’s Leadership in AI Technology – Pioneering the AI Frontier
Egiss is proud to partner with Lenovo, a global technology giant renowned for its cutting-edge advancements. Through this partnership, we leverage Lenovo’s deep expertise and thought leadership in AI to provide you with the latest innovations and industry disruptions driven by AI.
Jesper Marker, the 4P Manager for Workstation Nordic at Lenovo, offers valuable insights into how Lenovo is shaping the future of AI technology. Read on to explore the transformative power of AI technology in reshaping industries.
"Undoubtedly, we are at the front of this AI train. We need to drive this forward for our customers and serve as a disruptive force. We want to be the ones shaking things up and paving new paths."
Their collaboration focuses on integrating AI with hardware to create powerful workstations optimised for various industries.
Referring to Microsoft as “a key driver in artificial intelligence,” Jesper Marker explains how their partnership with Lenovo holds significance because, with the introduction of Copilot, it is poised to become an integral component of Office applications:
“One could argue that Copilot is driving everything in this AI world. It's going to become a permanently integrated part of everyone’s daily life – anyone connected to a PC, and anything related to an Office package,” he remarks.
But a noteworthy detail about Copilot is that it requires significant processing power to run locally.
And that’s where the Lenovo workstations come in.
Empowering AI Solutions Locally
Jesper Marker explains that Lenovo workstations have been optimised to run AI solutions for years now, and with the latest generation, these workstations effortlessly accommodate running a local Copilot due to their utilisation of graphics cards:
“That’s the clever thing about AI. It’s developed for graphics cards; that’s where the entire process happens when we talk about AI. Even the smallest graphics card in our notebook series, the RTX 500 series, has about 150 TOPS. So, plenty of excess power – and that’s on the smallest card, too,” Jesper Marker elaborates.
According to various sources, the minimum required Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to operate Copilot locally stands at 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). This explains why certain Lenovo Notebooks, performing at 500 and 600 TOPS, encounter “absolutely no issue running a Copilot,” as Jesper Marker points out.
Why is this significant?
Because there is a massive difference between local and cloud-based iterations of Copilot.
It's going to become a permanently integrated part of everyone’s daily life – anyone connected to a PC, and anything related to an Office package.
Copilot – Cloud versus Local
There is a cloud-based version of Copilot, accessible through the Bing search engine. It functions similarly to a chatbot like ChatGPT.
Currently, all operations in Europe are cloud-based, whereas in the USA, a version has been introduced that operates locally on a PC. Jesper Marker contends that this local variant “significantly reduces response times compared to what we see here in Europe.”
However, the local option remains unavailable in Europe due to pending legislation, particularly concerning GDPR, data protection, and privacy regulations. But more on that later.
The issue is that while the cloud-based version works just fine, Jesper Marker stresses that, considering Copilot’s integration into Microsoft 365, a local version will likely become increasingly necessary:
“The thing is, as long as Copilot resides in the cloud, it’s accessible to almost anyone, regardless of their machine’s specs. We can use it on a Lenovo machine without needing the latest CPU or an AI-enabled CPU,” he notes and adds importantly:
“The challenge arises when Copilot operates locally on the machine. It demands significant processing power to generate responses. Considering Copilot’s integration into Microsoft 365 apps like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and especially Teams, it’s anticipated to really require substantial resources.”
This raises the question: If Copilot functions adequately on the cloud, why invest in substantial resources, like Lenovo workstations, to run it locally?
According to Jesper Marker, one of the primary reasons to choose the local option is speed, as it can significantly enhance productivity and efficiency across different sectors:
“Imagine being able to gather insights from your Team’s meeting, where you’ve discussed agenda points and are tasked with creating a PowerPoint presentation. With the local option, you can quickly generate a PowerPoint with five slides based on those points. This significantly reduces production time and completely skyrockets productivity.”
Thus, local compatibility ensures that data processing transpires on the device itself, guaranteeing faster performance.
This underscores the benefits of being able to run a local version.
AI Industry Applications and Impact
The potential of AI extends across various industries, offering transformative applications with profound impacts. In the manufacturing sector, for example, AI plays a crucial role in predicting maintenance needs and enhancing quality control processes. Similarly, in product lifecycle management, AI streamlines development processes, reducing time-to-market while simultaneously improving product quality.
Jesper Marker illustrates a practical example of AI application in sales analytics using Copilot:
“A Copilot can analyse a customer’s purchase patterns. It can identify that specific machines are due for replacement and predict future needs based on historical data,” he says and continues to add:
“It could delve into why the customer purchased specific machines during a certain period. There could be various reasons behind these purchases. Perhaps these machines also need replacement – so, instead of merely offering a standard replacement, the Copilot could suggest a slightly more powerful machine based on past usage patterns. Essentially, it can conduct analytical sales work and propose contacting the customer to discuss upgrading their PC package.”
So, what’s the significance of these insights?
In light of the above, Lenovo’s workstations, capable of powering Copilot in Office applications, can transform business operations by automating routine tasks and providing data-driven insights.
This demonstrates why Lenovo’s collaboration with Microsoft positions them as frontrunners in the AI arena.
Essentially, it can conduct analytical sales work and propose contacting the customer to discuss upgrading their PC package.
Ensuring Ethical AI Deployment in Europe
It’s widely acknowledged that the rise of AI brings about substantial regulatory and ethical implications.
Jesper Marker delves into the ethical nuances and underscores the necessity of regulatory intervention, emphasising:
“AI is based on gathering a lot of information around the world, and it’s not certain that the information you have on your PC is necessarily something you want to share with the rest of the world. This is one of the reasons why the EU is involved today to create regulations regarding the security aspect of Copilot. It’s a crucial part of ensuring we have control over our data.”
So, what measures are recommended for handling particularly sensitive data? Jesper Marker asserts:
“There are recommendations, and there will also be requirements that perhaps you don’t have contact with the outside world or something else. That is, not just an on-premise solution, but truly isolated systems that run these things, ensuring that personal data, sensitive data, doesn’t end up on the internet,” he remarks.
As for anticipated EU approval, Jesper Marker expresses confidence, stating, “it will definitely be approved at some point soon, likely sometime in 2024.”
AI’s Dual Nature: Scary yet Positive
Jesper Marker characterises AI as “The Wild West, where anything goes. This is why there’s a push into the EU to establish some order and regulations.”
He further underscores the contemporary challenge of discerning between artificial and authentic content, stressing the neglected importance of source verification and critical assessment in recent times.
But despite the potentially alarming trajectory of AI’s rapid development, Jesper Marker also emphasises its undeniable positive impact.
Notably, in the field of medicine, AI has catalysed groundbreaking advancements in treatment and vaccine development:
“There are many daunting perspectives, but I would say there are just as many, if not more, positive perspectives – especially when we talk about the medical industry,” Jesper Marker claims:
“For example, they were very quick to develop a coronavirus vaccine based on RNA technology and a huge portion of AI. So, yes, there are really positive things to say about AI. It can help us in many ways,” he concludes.
While acknowledging the multifaceted nature of AI, Jesper Marker concludes on an optimistic note, recognising its potential to drive progress across various sectors for the betterment of society.
Lenovo Remains Committed to Driving AI Innovation in Future
Looking ahead, Lenovo remains at the forefront of driving AI innovation, providing the hardware that empowers local AI solutions such as Copilot. This local capability is crucial as it reduces latency and enhances performance – enabling businesses to fully leverage AI’s potential without relying solely on cloud solutions.
The advancement of AI will undoubtedly reshape job roles and industry dynamics. Jesper Marker shares an anecdote involving the director of a marketing firm with 140 employees, who previously produced marketing materials using Adobe products like Photoshop.
With the integration of AI, the director managed to streamline operations, reducing the workforce to just two individuals, retraining the other 138 to work with AI:
Thus, the reduction in staff wasn’t due to layoffs but rather a transformation in productivity:
“The same output is achieved through AI, making the team significantly more productive. This way, they can cater to more clients efficiently,” Jesper Marker explains, highlighting the transformative impact of AI on traditional job roles.
At Egiss, we strive to elevate every aspect of our services for our customers. Partnering with people like Jesper Marker from Lenovo, who are at the forefront of innovation, ensures that we deliver IT solutions that live up to our customers’ high expectations.
As we explore the profound impact of AI and its transformative influence, our collaboration with Lenovo offers invaluable insights and solutions. From revolutionising business operations to addressing regulatory challenges, our partnership remains committed to achieving excellence.
Embarking on a journey toward innovation, Lenovo and Microsoft come together to shape the future of AI technology and redefine the possibilities of tomorrow.
And we are proud to be included on this transformative journey.
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