To understand how artificial intelligence will be a gateway to the future, we must look at AI’s past and present.
More than 70 years elapsed between when modern AI was first discussed broadly in 1950 to the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. In those decades, we weathered two AI winters, several periods of setbacks and underwhelming advances, and six Terminator movies.
What made ChatGPT and other generative AI applications capture professional and personal curiosity in 2022? Why have we – at least thus far – avoided a third AI winter? And what is AI’s present and possible future?
This session will look at why AI has spread so pervasively in the years since ChatGPT’s launch. Based on the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s original research, we will look at how AI is being used now, the challenges that organizations face when implementing this technology and what AI may look like in the future.
We’ll explore AI’s implications for the workforce and culture, its practical applications beyond the hype and the challenges of implementation. And because AI adoption isn’t just a technical challenge, we’ll also discuss the critical role of leadership and organizational change.
About Jeff Puma
Jeff Puma is content director for the Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC) at the National Association of Manufacturers. He brings extensive industry knowledge to MLC’s digital transformation thought leadership. He leads the MLC’s special interest groups on supply networks, automation and operational excellence. Puma also facilitates virtual and in-person panel discussions. He regularly analyzes and writes MLC surveys and survey reports, and often presents these results in presentations and speeches to manufacturing organizations.
Prior to this role, he led marketing and communications for the Association for Manufacturing Excellence where he helped AME navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and increase its profile as a lean, continuous improvement thought leader.
He previously served as Account Director at Lipman Hearne, an agency serving associations, universities, and non-profits. He oversaw branding, advertising, marketing, fundraising and other work for clients, including Obama Foundation, University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football, University of the Pacific, Sweet Briar College and University of Iowa College of Law. His career also includes time in the education space leading communications and marketing for both public and private schools in Chicagoland.
Puma began his career with Siemens USA. He created Siemens’ first executive outreach program, working with six C-level executives to establish them as thought leaders on industry, infrastructure and technology. Prior to launching this ambitious program, he worked in the company’s Washington, DC office for Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc., before heading that operating company’s marketing and communication office in Sacramento, CA. While with Siemens, Jeff graduated from Siemens’ international high-potential communicators program and helped his team win the Siemens top+ Star Award for Total Business Improvement.
He holds of bachelor’s degree in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame. While in college he completed a concentration in the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, interning through the program in Washington, DC, for both Senator Richard J. Durbin’s office and the Federal Communications Commission’s International Bureau. He competed for the Fighting Irish Track & Field team, earning a Notre Dame Monogram and Big East Academic All-Star recognition. More recently, he achieved a certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida and earned his Enterprise Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. 
Theme: Innovation for tomorrow: AI, technology and social responsibility
