A New Kind of Enterprise Analytics
Databricks Chief AI Scientist Jonathan Frankle believes that companies are learning what works in practice as they experiment with generative AI technology.
A New Kind of Enterprise Analytics
On a basic level, generative AI is making possible a new kind of enterprise analytics, said Frankle. Unstructured data, such as Word files, images, or videos, had no place in traditional data analytics before generative AI, noted Frankle. But now, it’s a goldmine.
From Data to Structure
Having the data together in Databricks is the beginning of creating the kinds of new analytics Frankle cites. While LLMs can make use of a pile of unstructured data, it doesn’t hurt to get a company’s data into some kind of structure beforehand.
The Role of Data
The whole thesis for the acquisition was that we had one piece, Databricks had a lot of other pieces, and it made much more sense together, said Frankle.
What to Build
Beyond the techniques, knowing what apps to build is itself a journey and something of a fishing expedition. I think the hardest part in AI is having confidence that this will work, said Frankle. If you came to me and said, ‘Here’s a problem in the healthcare space, here are the documents I have, do you think AI can do this?’ my answer would be, ‘Let’s find out.’
The Question of What to Build
Applications that are getting into practice right now tend to look for things that are a little more open-ended, he said — meaning what the AI model produces can be fuzzy, not necessarily specific. AI is great at producing an answer, not always great at producing the answer, he observed.
The Path to AI Apps
In the midst of uncertainty, Frankle is impressed with how customers have quickly traversed the learning curve. Two or three years ago, there was a lot of explaining to customers what generative AI was, he noted. Now, when I talk to customers, they’re using vector databases.
Conclusion
As Frankle put it, the person who happens to have that GPU in their basement, and is playing with Llama, actually is very sophisticated, and could be the generative AI expert of tomorrow.
FAQs
Q: What is the role of data in developing generative AI apps?
A: The whole thesis for the acquisition was that we had one piece, Databricks had a lot of other pieces, and it made much more sense together, said Frankle.
Q: What are some applications that are getting into practice right now?
A: Applications that are getting into practice right now tend to look for things that are a little more open-ended, he said — meaning what the AI model produces can be fuzzy, not necessarily specific.
Q: What is the path to AI apps?
A: In the midst of uncertainty, Frankle is impressed with how customers have quickly traversed the learning curve. Two or three years ago, there was a lot of explaining to customers what generative AI was, he noted. Now, when I talk to customers, they’re using vector databases.
Q: What is the motto in enterprise generative AI?
A: The motto in enterprise generative AI might be, from tiny acorns grow mighty oaks, said Frankle.
