THE AI INTERVIEW
The energy density crisis As a company that builds the infrastructure for data centres, Schneider Electric is acutely aware of the risk of a density crisis caused by the training of large language models( LLMs).
Philippe highlights that AI is actually part of the solution for the very problems it creates. Schneider uses AI to ensure perfect maintenance and uptime for these“ AI factories,” avoiding manual interventions.
Furthermore, Philippe reveals that the company works deeply with partners like NVIDIA to manage power precisely and optimise it. This focus on reliability extends to how Philippe views AI components within a system.
“ Engineers and scientists have learned to make reliable systems using unreliable components,” he says.“ AI may be such an unreliable component.
“ Building a system that is reliable despite some of it being unreliable is often much more feasible, sometimes via human-in-the-loop, sometimes other technical solutions.”
This system-view approach is vital. In customer care, AI generates answers, but a human agent checks the response before it reaches the client.
“ We need that trust,” Philippe emphasises.
Navigating regulation, ethics and the tech stack Operating within the European Union means adhering to the EU AI Act, but Schneider’ s ethical framework goes further.
The company has published an external Trust Charter, which explicitly outlines what the firm will and will not do. For instance, the company has decided that Schneider will not engage in facial recognition technology.
“ As soon as we created this AI Hub, we created a team for responsible AI which is in charge of making sure that we deploy responsibly what we do,” Philippe explains. He notes that compliance with the EU AI Act“ doesn’ t slow us down today”.
On the technology front, Schneider leverages partnerships with giants
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