Unleashing The Power of AI in Telecoms: An Expert Panel Weighs In
AI is poised to reshape the telecom industry. With the technology’s potential to streamline network operations, deliver better value to customers and unleash innovation, communications service providers (CSPs) that strategically leverage AI in its infancy can come out on top. So how can they?
In a recent Tech Talk with CSG webinar , four expert panelists from the telecom and technology sectors shared their insights and detailed best practices to implement AI in ways that promote growth and innovation. With CSG’s Letchu Narayanan moderating the discussion, the speakers included:
Patrick Kelly , founder, partner & principal analyst, Appledore Research
Chris Featherstone , principal data & generative AI/ML telco CX GTM lead, AWS
Bindu Subhadramma , executive director, BSS core engineering and platform management, Optus
Gary Manuel Y Kho , FVP for enterprise architecture, PLDT
Let’s unpack the panel’s four key takeaways for telcos looking to best use AI in their organizations.
AI IS NOT A SILVER BULLET—BUT IT CAN BE TRAINED
AI is not a magic solution that can solve all the challenges faced by telcos, but rather a strategic enabler that can be shaped and molded to enhance their capabilities and performance. Panelists stressed that large language models (LLMs) require heavy training with a high volume of data to reach the maturity level required to reliably respond to customers and bring them solutions. Otherwise, they run the risk of ambiguous inputs producing AI hallucinations or implicit biases that turn off customers.
Even as the AI is being trained, telcos can apply it to practical use cases, such as incident identification and prevention. But first, said AWS’ Chris Featherstone , people have to unwire their understanding of what a generative model can and cannot do. “Always map to the use cases that you're trying to accomplish, then work backwards to what's possible.”
AI is a tool that can augment human intelligence and decision-making, but it shouldn’t replace it. Telcos need to remain realistic and deploy AI in ways that will support current operations, not reinvent them.
AI CAN HELP TELCOS OPTIMIZE NETWORKS AND SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
Panelists identified network optimization and remediation as key areas where AI can make a difference for telcos. AI is adept at finding and communicating patterns, which can be transformed into actionable insights and automation. They recommended using AI to improve network performance by monitoring and analyzing traffic anomalies, identifying root causes, and predicting demand and capacity then automating actions and responses.
