In this BASELINE episode, I take a powerful journey with Sebastian Weir, a dynamic thinker whose path from northern England to top-tier financial consulting has fueled a compelling vision for AI’s future. Together, we tackle the high-stakes risks and incredible opportunities AI brings to consultancy, financial security, and everyday life. From battling deepfake scams to exploring groundbreaking family-safe banking systems, Sebastian shares a bold perspective on using AI not only to innovate but to safeguard our humanity. Join us as we push the boundaries of tech, values, and vision—discussing a future where AI truly empowers us all.

(00:00) Intro (01:32) The threat AI poses to consultancy and human capital organizations (02:59) Organisations controlling the messaging around AI (06:10) The benefit of AI for inclusivity in the workforce (07:12) Where should knowledge workers reskill (09:10) The professional journey to work with AI (11:04) The joy of human connection making memorable experiences (15:54) Brutalism and will we live inside multipurpose architecture (17:20) Building heritage and retaining our historic landscape (17:39) The Sycamore Gap tree and the human connection with place (19:04) Parental anxiety about social media (19:40) Shall we replace our smartphones with pagers (20:00) Archaeology to AI in banking (21:10) The opportunity for organizations to benefit from AI and data (23:00) The importance of values and diversity of thought (24:40) The challenge of objective decision-making and critical thinking (25:12) The emergence of deepfake and fraud (27:21) Advice to avoid being a victim of a deepfake scam (29:55) The underwhelming Mark Zuckerberg metaverse avatar (33:33) What to look for when choosing a bank (35:35) Convergence of infrastructure and customer experience (37:45) Explanation of foundation models and multimodal AI (38:46) NASA geosatellite data AI processing (43:43) The value of openness (44:55) Llama Meta foundation model and IBM Granite foundation model class (46:23) Mistral AI-focused French innovation (47:55) Cost reduction for AI in targeted foundation models (48:45) Nvidia GPU usage and how it will be affected by foundation model design (50:10) AI is an unknown, not a threat (51:48) Generational shift and human-machine interface (53:53) School headmasters using ChatGPT (56:27) Utopia or dystopia: an optimistic utopia