Ray Pettit: New Models for AI Literacy?

Ray is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Valhalla AI Solutions. Prior to that, he held senior leadership roles at the Advertising Research Foundation, at the Institute for Experiential AI, and at comScore.

In this episode, Ray discusses challenges associates with promoting meaningful AI literacy in business, starting with fundamental questions, like what is “AI literacy” exactly? (Is it merely the ability to use AI tools, or is a deeper understanding of the science behind those tools required?) He also discusses the reverse problem, where recent graduates from AI/ML programs lack sufficient domain knowledge to be full partners with key leaders at the companies that hire them. The end result is that many companies struggle to have meaningful dialog between their domain experts and their experts in AI and ML. On a more optimistic note, Ray describes a variety of initiatives in Canada, Germany and in select states in the US, that show promise for deepening the domain understanding of data scientists, while also empowering domain experts with a better understanding of data science.