Israel's leading AI Week was recently organized by Tel Aviv University and covered breakthroughs and innovations in AI, as well as its application in business strategy, policy, and future development, gathering a whopping 5,000 AI practitioners and data scientists from 75 countries. TAU's third AI Week occurred in the midst of the industry's continued growth, as the global AI market is expected to reach a $190.61 billion market value in 2025, and over 83% of companies reporting AI as a top priority in their business plans.
Industry leaders from companies including Intel, Google, PayPal and Facebook, as well as renowned professors from global universities such as Tel Aviv University, MIT and New York University, gathered for this year's AI Week Conference, and shared new insights and practices across the world of artificial intelligence. Government representatives from Israel, the UK, Spain and Singapore were also present and shared their strategies towards strengthening the AI ecosystems in their respective countries.
The event was organized by TAU's Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security and the TAD - Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. It was co-founded with Intel and is supported by the Israeli Innovation Authority.
Projected Growth Across Industries
The conference speakers shared their expertise in natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning, as well as the latest developments in AI across industries, ranging from health and medicine to transportation.
The projected growth of AI field was an essential consideration across the board for the various industries.
Jack Hidary, Head of Sandbox, for instance, delivered the opening keynote on AI in the quantum age, followed by two additional keynotes - Prof. Lior Wolf (Computer Science and TAD's management) on Explainable AI and Dr. Amitai Armon (Intel) on AI Innovations and their Intel Applications.
The event included a special joint session by TAD center and Google as part of the AI4Good collaborative initiative, focused on health. Dr. Debby Cohen (Senior Research Scientist, Google) and Dr. Shiri Stempler (Director of Collaborative Research, TAD) moderated the session, which included speakers from both TAD and Google, showcasing advances in the fields of AI and Health.
AI Week's Chairman, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, who is also Co-Head of Israel's AI Initiative and Director of TAU's Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), shared his view that AI will be the dominant technology for the next five-ten years and said "Israel is capable of being one of the global hubs for AI technology, as we are for cyber technology."
AI Considerations Across the Map
Carme Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence of Spain, said AI should be considered as a driver for change, and stressed the need to place it at the center of a smarter and more inclusive model. He referred to AI as a driver of economic recovery after the pandemic, and said Spain's strategy aims are to develop academic and scientific excellence in the field of AI. He believes this should happen by implementing AI into the existing value chain and model and that it must be developed by a human-centered approach.
Sana Kharengani, Head of UK Office for Artificial Intelligence, noted that public perception is a huge barrier to implementing AI tech in society, and that technical standards and institutions are key. She highlighted the need for new and clear standards and regulations for AI, which she said will "improve our perception of these technologies and mitigate any new risks without stifling innovation." Kharengani mentioned the UK's algorithm transparency standard for the public sector as a prime example.
Brig General, Aviad Dagan, Head of Israel Defense Forces' Digital Transformation discussed the great strides Israel Defense Forces is taking towards AI and Data Strategy in a world where winning wars in a world where fighting is no longer just about physical weapons.
