Training the skills of the future taking into account developments in technology is a complex challenge. In a rapidly evolving area like that of artificial intelligence it is even more so. In order to do this in the best way possible, combining the quality and depth of academic research with the privileged view of leading companies in the sector on technological and market trends could prove to be a winning formula. This is one of the main keys of the alliance signed between La Sapienza University, Google and TIM to promote and develop AI excellence training together.
New frontiers for an already established technology
"The fields of application of artificial intelligence are constantly expanding," said Carlo Nardello, TIM's Chief Strategy Customer Experience & Transformation Officer, presenting the initiative on 16 November together with the partners. "This is now a mature technology. What is new, however, is integration with ultra-fast networks, such as 5G, and with the cloud, which will give an extraordinary boost to the economy."
To explore these new opportunities, TIM, Google and La Sapienza have chosen to combine their skills and create a high level training path with a strong multidisciplinary approach. The study courses will be broken down into many areas: from technical expertise to reflections on ethical implications, from legal and regulatory aspects to Big Data.
The courses and the training calendar of AI Academy
The advanced training course 'Artificial Intelligence for Crisis & Emergency Management in Medicine' will start in January in order to transfer the necessary skills to leverage technology and manage emergency and crisis situations, such as the pandemic we are experiencing, to professionals working in the social-health sector.
This will be followed by the 'Ethics, Rights and Policies of Artificial Intelligence’ advanced training course, which is aimed at an audience that is not necessarily technical and seeks to pursue the definition of policies and governance that effectively combine the application of AI systems with public ethics.
Finally, the 'AI Strategies & Business Applications' advanced training course will allow professionals working in the company to understand the opportunities offered by the adoption of solutions based on Artificial Intelligence, paying particular attention to the relationship between costs, risks and benefits.
Artificial intelligence at TIM
At TIM, we have been introducing artificial intelligence into our processes for some years now: to improve interaction with customers, but also to analyse their needs and customise the offers.
In our current technical assistance processes, we already make use of the large amounts of data generated by our client touchpoints. Leveraging on this information, we created Angie: a virtual assistant that our customers can call at any time in order to find a quick answer to the most frequently asked questions, before - if necessary - being forwarded to a human operator who will provide further support until the problem is solved.
AI tools are also proving to be increasingly valuable in improving infrastructure management, optimizing performances and reducing faults as well as diagnosis and recovery time. By using algorithms that correlate data from our systems and customer contact points we have reduced failures by 18% in one year.
Finally, artificial intelligence also allows us to continuously improve the configuration of the network, so as to optimise investments and improve the service quality.
