Waikato Business News April/May 2023

How will AI impact
your business?
Is artificial
intelligence coming
for your job?
A
recent report from
Goldman Sachs
suggests that generative
artificial intelligence
systems will affect 300 million
full time jobs worldwide, and
significantly disrupt the labour
market.
It’s got some people worried.
Some 62 percent of Americans
believe AI will impact
jobs over the next 20 years,
according to a Pew Research
Center report released recently
[April 20].
According to Professor Bernhard
Pfahringer, co-director
of Te Ipu o te Mahara AI Institute
at University of Waikato,
there is nothing to fear.
“Twenty years ago, artificial
intelligence was an aspiration,
but now it is a reality with
far-reaching implications,” he
says.
“It is a tool with huge potential
to help us all, and change
the way we work and live, just
like the Internet did.”
Professor Pfahringer is
a lecturer in the Computing
and Mathematical Sciences at
the University. His research
focuses on AI, deep learning
and machine learning.
He spoke about ChatGPT,
AI and its implications at a
learning lunch organised by
the Waikato Public Relations
Institute of New Zealand
(PRINZ) committee in April.
Professor Pfahringer said
that AI tools have the potential
to boost productivity and
save labour costs across many
industries, but many also lead
to unemployment in certain
roles or sectors.
“Some jobs will disappear,
but new ones will emerge.”
Roles that could be
impacted by the new technology
include administrative and
legal services, journalism and
content creation, web coding
and software engineering.
ChatGPT is a large language
model created by OpenAI
that predicts the next word
in a sequence of words, and, by
iterating the process, can create
long sections of text, says
Professor Bernhard Pfahringer
Professor Pfahringer.
The chatbot is trained on
huge amounts of publicly
available information on the
Internet, including news and
journal articles, alongside
open-source computer code.
There are other similar generative
AI models, including
Google’s Bard and those that
produce images, video, audio
and text based on prompts,
currently available. New innovations
and improved interactions
are also in the pipeline.
Professor Pfahringer
believes that, in the future, AI
will be incorporated into word
processing programmes, like
spell checker apps are today.
This will speed up the process
of transcribing, analysing
and organising vast amounts
of information - helpful for
a range of professions, from
legal and human resources,
to media, public relations and
education. .
Another positive is that
using AI frees people up to
focus on higher level tasks and
critical thinking, says Professor
Pfahringer.
“There will be higher productivity
and a better quality
product.”
To ensure equity, he
believes that subscribing to
generative AI models and
other emerging technologies
should be made widely accessible
to schools, community
organisations and in business
settings.
There are some concerns
surrounding these AI tools
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, APRIL/MAY 2023 11
however, including accuracy,
the generation and distribution
of fake news and misinformation,
implications for creatives
and creativity, cheating
on assignments, and copyright
and plagiarism, among other
things.
There is also concern about
how te ao Māori and other
world views outside the dominant
US-centric mainstream
are reflected or accommodated
by commercially dominant
large language models.
For those using ChatGPT
for research or content generation,
accuracy is still a concern.
Professor Pfahringer says
that these “are hallucinations;
sometimes AI just makes
things up”.
ChatGPT doesn’t always
produce factually correct text,
although articles can read as
entirely plausible on first read.
“This is a risk, especially
if you do not take a critical
approach and accept it as
fact, and then share it as false
information.”
The takeaway is, use AI
tools to speed up your work
processes, for idea generation
or as a starting point, but double
check everything.
Creativity and critical thinking
can not be easily replaced.
Humans are still very much
needed to manage the process
and ensure accuracy.
– By Kate Monahan Public
Relations Institute of New
Zealand (PRINZ) Waikato
committee deputy chair
CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE OF
NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON
Mike Neale, Managing Director, NAI Harcourts Hamilton
Building Energy Efficiency
Ratings - NABERS
There has been increasing interest
and Tenant requirements around
building efficiency in recent
years, particularly from government
and corporate occupiers. We started
with Green Star, which from a Hamilton
perspective was often a costly exercise
where Tenants were rarely prepared to
pay the associated rental freight for the
rating, to the more attainable NABERS
rating system.
NABERSNZ (New Zealand version
of NABERS - National Australian Built
Environment Rating System) and Green
Star are two sustainability rating systems
used in Australia and New Zealand to
measure the environmental performance
of commercial buildings. While both
rating systems aim to promote sustainable
buildings, they differ in their approach
and focus.
NABERS Ratings:
NABERS is a performance-based
rating system that measures the energy
efficiency, water usage, and waste
management of existing commercial
buildings. It was developed in Australia
in 1998 and has since been adopted in
New Zealand as well. NABERS ratings
are based on actual building performance
data, which is collected over a period of 12
months and benchmarked against other
buildings.
The NABERS rating system is
designed to assess the environmental
impact of buildings, primarily focused
on measuring their operational energy
efficiency, such as how much energy is
used for heating, cooling, lighting, and
hot water systems. On a scale of 0 to 6
stars, a 6-star rating represents marketleading
environmental performance,
while a 0-star rating indicates that the
building has a high environmental impact.
NABERS ratings are used to benchmark
building performance and provide the
building owners with recommendations
for improvement.
There are 3 types of NABERSNZ
ratings – Base Building, Tenancy or
Whole Building, which measures a
combination of both Base Building and
Tenancy ratings.
Green Star Ratings:
Green Star is a comprehensive rating
system that evaluates the environmental
design and construction of new buildings,
as well as major refurbishments. It was
developed by the Green Building Council
of Australia in 2003 and has since been
adopted in New Zealand as well. The Green
Star rating system assesses a building’s
environmental impact in nine categories,
including energy, water, materials, and
indoor environment quality.
Green Star ratings are based on a
points system, with a building needing
to achieve a certain number of points in
each category to attain a rating. Green
Star ratings range from 1 to 6 stars,
with a 6-star rating representing world
leadership in sustainable building design
and construction.
Benefits of NABERS in New Zealand:
NABERSNZ has several benefits for
building owners and occupants in New
Zealand.
Firstly, NABERSNZ ratings provide
building owners with an understanding
of their building’s energy and water usage
and waste management performance. This
information can be used to identify areas
of improvement and implement energysaving
measures, which can lead to cost
savings on energy bills.
Secondly, NABERSNZ ratings can
increase the value of a building. A higher
NABERS rating indicates that a building
has lower environmental impact and is
therefore more attractive to potential
tenants and investors.
Thirdly, NABERSNZ ratings can
improve the indoor environment quality
of a building. This is because buildings
with high NABERS ratings are more likely
to have features such as efficient lighting
and air conditioning systems, which
can improve the comfort and health of
occupants.
Lastly, NABERSNZ ratings can help to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New
Zealand. Buildings account for a significant
proportion of greenhouse gas emissions
in New Zealand, and improving the
environmental performance of buildings
can help to reduce these emissions and
mitigate the impacts of climate change.
In conclusion, NABERS and Green
Star are two rating systems used in
Australia and New Zealand to measure the
environmental performance of buildings.
While both rating systems aim to promote
sustainable buildings, they differ in
their approach and focus. NABERS is a
performance-based rating system that
measures the energy efficiency, water
usage, and waste management of existing
buildings, while Green Star evaluates the
environmental design and construction of
new buildings and major refurbishments.
NABERS ratings appear more realistically
attainable than Green Star, particularly
for owners of existing commercial
buildings, therefore providing a valuable
tool for improving the environmental performance
of buildings and increasingly
seen as a means of demonstrating environmental
responsibility and compliance with
regulations. The significant benefits for
building owners and occupants in New Zealand,
include cost savings on energy bills,
increased building value, improved indoor
environment quality, and reduced greenhouse
gas emissions.
For more information -
www.nabersnz.govt.nz
NAI Harcourts Hamilton
Monarch Commercial Ltd MREINZ Licensed
Agent REAA 2008
Cnr Victoria & London Streets, HAMILTON
07 850 5252 | hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz
www.naiharcourts.co.nz