MAXX 2024 Mainstage: Zack Kass Shares AI’s Beautiful Future

Posted by Lynn Heider on October 24, 2024

Zack Kass is a self-proclaimed “AI Optimist,” and after seeing his keynote address at MAXX 2024 in Denver on Oct. 16, hundreds of credit union leaders are too.  

“The most important thing I can contribute to is helping the world to imagine a future that is abundant and exciting and beautiful,” Kass said in his introductory video.  

It only got more exciting from there. Kass unpacked AI’s potential and challenged some of the most profound fears we all have; things like, “AI is going to take our jobs,” or “AI will kill us.”  

Kass has long had a front row seat to this rapidly evolving renaissance, having spent 14 years in the field. He’s the former Head of Go-to-Market for OpenAI, which introduced the world to ChatGPT.  

So, break it down: why are humans so scared of artificial intelligence?  

“Because we love control,” Kass said. “We have exceptional tolerance for human failure but no tolerance for technological failure.”  

For those reasons, Kass says, we’re overlooking the ability of technology such as autonomous vehicles to make driving and transportation safer.  

Kass doesn’t downplay the potential for there to be “terrible unintended consequences” but is an evangelist when it comes to the greater potential to harness AI.  

“The hard part of this renaissance won’t be figuring out what machines can do but what we want them to do.” 

AI, he says, can make businesses more efficient, and human lives more interesting. Here’s the exciting future Kass sees if AI is harnessed correctly: 

• A cure for cancer in the next 25 years. 
• A mass improvement in human productivity. We will like our jobs more as AI eliminates busy work. 
• A less expensive world where AI helps turn luxuries into staples. 
• More quality time to spend with friends, family, and the activities we like.

Imagining the possibilities for credit unions.

AI has “tremendous potential” for credit unions to scale and lower the costs of their services, Kass noted. AI can increase people’s access to financial services.  

Asked about bias in AI loan applications, Kass pointed out AI could be used to explain the reasons and causes of some loans being denied.  

AI can help credit unions weed out bad actors engaged in cybersecurity, but Kass also called for the federal government to impose stronger consequences.  

“Make it a federal offense,” he said. “Make it terrifying.” 

With AI making operations more efficient, credit unions could focus on the soft skills that help members to like and trust them.  

“I have a particular fondness for credit unions,” Kass said. “One of my beliefs is in core communities, and that’s going to happen through this entrepreneurship that can create spaces people want to live inside.” 

Posted in MAXX, MAXX Keynote Speakers, Top Headlines.