Across to Madrid to speak at the South Summit, my first time there. Fascinating reception on the first evening with AI innovators, entrepreneurs and investors at the Palacio de Liria, the traditional home of the Dukes of Alba. Andrew Winston and I listened in growing incredulity as speaker after speaker demonstrated a limited grasp (to put it mildly) of the turbulence the AI sector will face as it encounters wider stakeholder resistance.
For me, though, the high point of the trip was being bussed with some 25 other participants to meet King Felipe VI at his palace outside the city. I have met a fair few royals over the years, but he was head and shoulders above most of them. He greeted each of us in with a handshake; then we sat in a circle for what was meant to be a one hour session, but lasted for several. He answered every question individually, generally with a 4-5 minute reply, and demonstrated deep understanding of a wide range of topics.
By the end, I thought we were using him a but like a human version of ChatGPT. I didn’t ask a question, because I was distracted by fierce itching in my hands, brought on (it would transpire) by the drugs I have been taking recently to ward off the risk of another mini-stroke, or TIA. But then one of my itching hands was shaken again on our way out. I told him it had been a masterclass, and it had.
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