LVMH Embraces AI to Enhance Human Capabilities, Not Replace Them

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not intended to replace human experts but rather complement their work, confirms luxury conglomerate LVMH. The French multinational aims to utilize AI algorithms to enhance the efforts of its human workforce, according to Axel de Goursac, director of AI Factory at LVMH. Speaking at Viva Tech Paris 2024, Goursac’s comments are likely to alleviate concerns among workers about the potential obsolescence of human labor due to automation by AI systems. LVMH asserts that humans will continue to play a central role in the creative process of the luxury goods industry. Goursac also highlights that generative AI algorithms are being utilized at LVMH to expedite product launches and reduce costs. Similarly, Baidu’s co-founder and CEO, Robin Li, believes that the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) will address concerns related to the current decline in population. Li made these remarks during his speech at Viva Tech Paris. The discussion on AI gains significance amidst growing investor interest, with Elon Musk’s company recently securing a $6 billion Series B funding round to position its Grok chatbot as a competitor to ChatGPT by the end of 2024. This funding round has also elevated the valuation of xAI to $24 billion, just 11 months after its launch in July 2023. LVMH has been actively advancing its own internal AI systems, including the development of MaIA, an AI chatbot with privacy-preserving features based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model. To enhance AI education internally, LVMH has trained 1,500 employees in AI usage in 2023, with plans to increase this number to over 10,000 in the future. The collaboration with Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence has contributed to the development of the MaIA chatbot.