Today’s guest is Neil Sahota, an IBM Master Inventor, United Nations A.I. Advisor, professor at UC Irvine, and globally-recognized speaker and author. Neil is a founding member of the UN’s Artificial Intelligence for Social Good Committee, and he’s here to talk about how we can harness the power of AI and use it for social good. Neil is also the author of “Own the A.I.Revolution”, providing a future-forward look at A.I., focusing on how businesses can use it to commercialize while doing good in the world. We’ll discuss things like the challenges posed by A.I. and how we can overcome them, as well as which skill-sets are going to be most important in the near future.   

In our interview, I was amazed by how A.I. can help our businesses, lives, and water infrastructure worldwide. Data allows us to make better decisions. We make better decisions when we have better data. When we don’t have data, we’re not making decisions; we’re making guesses. So how good are your guesses? 

 

Timestamps:  

Upcoming events for water treaters (see links below) [1:50]

Introducing Neil Sahota, Artificial Intelligence Expert  [8:13]

How is A.I. being used to improve our water infrastructure around the country? [14:15]

What does a water treater need to know about A.I., and how can they start using it? [16:18]

How can A.I. improve our capacity and collection of water in agriculture? [19:36]

Why Neil wrote the “Own the A.I. Revolution” and how it can help your business [22:33]

Positioning A.I. for social good and working with The United Nations A.I. for Good Initiative [24:33]

How do you help people to develop a world-class culture? [28:32]

What can’t A.I. do? [31:15]

Lightning round questions [34:00]

Outro [38:11]

James’ Challenge: Test boiler sulfite, both immediately on a sample, and again an hour later on the same open sample. [41:02]

 

Quotes:  

“Artificial Intelligence is a machine that can mimic human thinking to do low-level type tasks that require some cognition.” - Neil Sahota 

“Maximize the use of the water we have.” - Neil Sahota 

“A.I. unlocks a toolset that we’ve never had before, now we can do way more than that.” - Neil Sahota 

“We can use A.I. to influence consumer behavior on their water usage habits."- Neil Sahota 

“Data is the fuel for A.I.” - Neil Sahota  

“We have to bring people together who want to make solutions.” - Neil Sahota 

“Small things add up.” - Neil Sahota 

“I believe in the power of storytelling so people can hear the actions and outcomes.” - Neil Sahota 

If I can inspire people, soon we are saving a million gallons of water a day.” - Neil Sahota 

“Do something and share that story.” - Neil Sahota 

“Saving money and saving the planet. It’s a double win!” - Neil Sahota 

“Changing the culture takes time and a lot of effort, but it is well worth it.” - Neil Sahota 

Data allows us to make better decisions. We make better decisions when we have better data. When we don’t have data, we’re not making decisions; we’re making guesses. So how good are your guesses?”- Trace Blackmore 

“We need other people to help us get better.” - Trace Blackmore 

“You never know how far the ripples will reach.” - Trace Blackmore 

“Until next week, try something new, try to learn something new, and do something new; and be the reason that somebody cracks a smile.” - Trace Blackmore 

 

Connect with Neil Sahota:

Website: neilsahota.com

LinkedIn: in/neilsahota

 

Links Mentioned: 

The United Nations A.I. for Good Initiative

Episode 168 with Jared Gabel 

Scaling Up Business Webinar Series

Rising Tide Mastermind

 

Books Mentioned: 

Own the A.I. Revolution by Neil Sahota