Hearts & Minds: Hard lessons from Paris's AI Anticlimax

A week ago, the Paris AI summit was occupying centre-stage. It seemed to embody the age: a gathering of tech might, bringing together country rulers, regulators and corporate titans in one almighty, glamorous, heavyweight jamboree. There was serious business to be done, we were assured, as the delegates would be discussing future regulation. Paris has been and gone and er, that’s it. Within days, JD Vance’s speech on AI was overshadowed by his address to the Munich Security Conference. Normally, a staid fixture, this year Munich, as it does occasionally, proved to be historic, providing the backdrop for resetting the world order. All that champagne and oysters ordered by President Macron and his organisers was made to appear excessive.

Partly, as well, it was the fact that Paris did not settle anything: there was no landmark announcement; the assembly did not produce a climactic, universal agreement; the US and UK notably failed to sign a diplomatic declaration on ‘inclusive and sustainable’ AI; there was no consensus, with the V-P hinting at what was to come, stressing the US would not be constrained by international regulations in AI development. Which serves to highlight the danger in hosting and attending such events, in getting carried away with their sense of importance. Bigging up something beforehand is a good idea – provided you’re 100% sure it will accomplish what you’re saying it will. Better still, is promoting it but not going the full distance, keeping the best to last if you can and gaining that element of pleasant surprise which will play well in the media.

We live in an era of global conferences, talks, summits on issues of importance. Often, they are showcases for soft power. CEOs and industry leaders may be asked to participate and speak; often, corporates are anxious to go anyway. There is no harm in that, provided the reason for bothering is well-defined. If it’s an opportunity for high-level networking, then fine. Although, realistically, how high-level will it get, will those people you want to see be surrounded by their entourages and governed by impossibly tight schedules. If there’s an accompanying social diary and you’re invited, that’s great. But if you’re going because you believe it’s vital and your company must be part of it, be careful what reason you give. How many of those who rushed to Paris only to return admitting they’d been to what proved to be a giant shindig that achieved nothing at all?

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.