22 September 2023
Bilbao Campus
Humanism and Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the key aspect of the various presentations held on 22 September in Bilbao, to commemorate the first 15 years of the Expert Programme in General Management (PDG).
Participants from previous years were invited to the event since, as the Dean of Deusto Business School, Álvaro de la Rica, said during his welcoming remarks, the General Management Programme is one of the flagships of the business school and also the one we are most proud of".
De la Rica highlighted the challenge of maintaining 15 years of a programme in such a changing, “liquid world”, to use Zygmunt Bauman's terminology. He recalled that although the programme has been redesigned and revised over the last 15 years, taking into account the demands of the socioeconomic fabric and society at large, it has always maintained its essence and academic standards to meet the needs of the market and society to train good leaders.
As the Dean pointed out, educating leaders, good leaders, is one of the main objectives of Deusto Business School, a School where leadership is intrinsically linked to the humanist label, "the one that leaves a lasting imprint and allows us to contribute to creating a more prosperous, fairer and more inclusive world, as our mission statement claims".
After the welcoming remarks by the Dean Álvaro de la Rica, the day began with the participation of different AI experts, always from a humanist perspective.
This was the case of Joaquina Salado, Head of AI Ethics at Telefónica. Throughout his presentation he outlined the many benefits to be gained from implementing AI, which is already becoming an important part of our everyday lives. However, this fourth revolution, which will speed up innovation and offer us many opportunities, also has a B-side that can have a direct impact on issues ranging from human rights to the environment, for example.
However, one thing we can expect is that its impact on work, on the way we work, will soon be a reality. "And it will take a great deal of training to ensure that no one is left behind," he concluded. Furthermore, he stressed the need to apply an ethical and responsible approach across all AI development, and considered it essential to apply humanism to address all risks arising from AI.
The significance of applying an ethical and humanistic approach to AI was also a point shared by the participants of the subsequent discussion panel, namely Ana Isabel Herrán, Vice-Dean for Student Affairs, Research and Transfer at the Law School and expert in Digital Law; Oscar Lage, Head of Cyber Security, Technological Innovation, Strategic Management & Blockchain Expert; and Peru Sasía, Director of the Social Sciences and Humanities Department at the University of Deusto.
Moderated by the Vice-Dean for International Relations, Mikel Larreina, the participants in the roundtable discussed the importance of applying ethics to AI activities and the need for some degree of legal regulation to ensure their proper development.
After the presentation given by Adela Balderas, who in her talk 'The challenges of leadership in the era of artificial intelligence' spoke of perseverance and passion to prevent AI from leading us where we do not want to be, Almudena Eizaguirre, Director General of Deusto Business School Executive Education, took the floor.
Before giving way to the final toast and networking space among the attendees, she summarised what was said by recalling the important benefits of using AI to improve people's lives, as well as the risks arising from its misuse. She also recalled the remarks delivered by the new Rector of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria, during his speech at the opening of the academic year, stating that the University has set up a multidisciplinary working group to address the challenges posed by Generative Artificial Intelligence to our field of activity. This team is currently assessing its impact and thinking ethically and critically about it.
Eizaguirre also recalled that the first expert programme to prepare organisations to face the ethical challenges posed by applied artificial intelligence will be launched this academic year.
