Davos 2024: AI, climate change & the economy

Image credit: World Economic Forum

Against a backdrop of complex, geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges, last week the 54th World Economic Forum (WEF) took place in the small ski town of Davos Klosters.

While we may have been battling freezing temperatures at home, business and government leaders were in heated discussions on everything from climate change, to trade, to emerging technology.

Unsure where to start digesting everything that came out of the event? Here are some of our key takeaways 🍕

🦾 Artificial intelligence 🦾

If there was one key takeaway from WEF 2024 it’s that artificial intelligence (AI) is on everybody’s mind.

There were two main schools of thought. Firstly the possibilities of what AI can bring. Oleg Lavrovsky, Vice-President at Opendata.ch, stated that there is “a chance to find some ethical solutions to the AI dilemmas we're facing”. He also added that he hoped this year’s event would encourage collaboration between science, industry and government to address challenges. 

On one panel, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella said he’s “very optimistic about AI being that general purpose technology that drives economic growth.” 

But as we’re still learning on what AI can do, much of the discussions at Davos were focused on the impact of the technology on society and how to start regulating the technology. Arati Prabhakar, director of the US White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said on one panel that AI is “the most powerful technology of our times” and is “something that must be managed”.

On another panel, Salesforce’s Marc Benioff agreed, stating “It could go really wrong. We must make sure people don’t get hurt [...] We must make sure we get our head around this now.” 

Open AI’s CEO Sam Altman also said that it was good that people are afraid of the downsides of the technology, and that we’re talking about it. AI is “good at some things, but not good at a life-and-death situation.” He also said “it’s good that we and others are being held to a high standard.”

Supporting this, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith said a global approach to regulation is needed.

🌍 Climate change 🌍 

Another focus for many was the topic of climate change. According to WEF’s 2024 Global Risks Report, extreme weather events, critical change to Earth systems and biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are the top three long-term risks we are facing.

As such, it’s no surprise that the focus for the entire event was regeneration, which involves rethinking and reinventing everything around us from business models to supply chains to deliver positive impact.

According to a recent report from Kearney, business regeneration is our answer to “what’s next” in a post-resilience world. It’s a timely approach to how businesses can and should be ready for the future.

In one panel discussion, Gim Huay Neo, managing director of World Economic Forum Geneva, agreed, and said: “We know that the growth that we've experienced over the years has been powered with an overconsumption of Earth's finite resources. The big question that companies have to navigate is, can they continue to grow, can they continue to generate profits, while cutting emissions and stopping depleting natural resources?"

📈Business 📈

Finally and unsurprisingly, the state of the global economy was a big topic. After a year of changing interest rates, price spikes and higher debt levels, many economists were split in their forecasts for 2024.

WEF’s latest Chief Economists Outlook revealed that 56% of chief economists said they expect the global economy to weaken this year.

In one panel event at Davos, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said she did not expect a return to economic "normality" in 2024. She stated that consumption, trade and inflation started to normalise last year. But it would be difficult to predict what would happen this year.

On the same panel Germany's Minister of Finance Christian Lindner said that the next few years will define a “new normal”. From geopolitical tensions, the race of artificial intelligence and the threat of fragmentation - Lindner says we are at the beginning of an era of new structural reforms.

Talking of geopolitics, with all the elections around the world taking place this year, heads of global banks shared their fears of how geopolitical tensions could cause volatility in the market. They also warned of inflationary pressures from increased shipping costs and the possibility of oil price rises.

So what was the overall takeaway of the event? Clearly the goal for many experts continues to be ensuring AI is being used for good. But there is plenty of work to be done to ensure it’s being approached in the right way by businesses and it is properly regulated. It will be interesting to see what progress we make in 2024. 

For more key takeaways, make sure to check out the World Economic Forum’s website.

Did you attend Davos 2024? Let us know your key thoughts on the event!