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Introduction

Jordi: Today we have the great pleasure of welcoming Luc, a pioneer in conversational artificial intelligence. Luc is a consultant, speaker, and trainer with over 15 years of experience in AI. He co-authored the book "Guide de l’IA en entreprise" and is co-pilot at Hub France IA. He helps businesses understand, adopt, and benefit from AI in an ethical and responsible way. Welcome, Luc!

Luc’s Journey into AI

Luc: Thank you, Jordi. My background is in computer engineering from Toulouse, complemented by a master's in management from Barcelona. I initially wanted to manage projects but quickly got drawn into AI after meeting you in Barcelona. You were launching a startup focused on virtual agents—what we now call chatbots—and encouraged me to lead a French subsidiary. That’s how I started Inbenta France, growing it from 0 to 35 people, and evolved from symbolic AI to more connectionist approaches. Later, I moved into robotics and multimodal interaction with a company called Spoon. Nowadays, I focus mostly on consulting, training, and writing.

Common Misconceptions About AI

Luc: The biggest misconception is the fear of being replaced by AI. But today, it's more about being replaced by someone who uses AI better than you. I also talk about six major risks of AI: environmental impact, bias, hallucinations, lack of explainability, data privacy, and loss of human expertise. Many fears are based on outdated info from 2023. Technologies like GPT-4 are far more efficient than GPT-3.5, for instance. It’s important to stay up to date and understand the real limits and potentials of these tools.

Advice for SMBs Adopting AI

Luc: First, companies need to understand that there’s not just one AI. There’s generative AI, predictive AI, and symbolic AI, also known as GOFAI (Good Old-Fashioned AI. Business leaders must be educated about what AI is and how it works. In our book, the first of seven steps to integrate AI into a company is called acculturation —just learning what AI really is. After that comes testing, use case identification, and implementation.

Frugal AI and Responsible Use

Luc: Generative AI is well known now, so let’s focus on frugal AI. With Hub France IA and AFNOR, I helped draft a specification to evaluate and reduce the environmental footprint of AI systems. We identified 31 best practices to make AI more frugal, such as sacrificing 2% of model accuracy in exchange for cutting energy consumption in half. This aligns with the EU’s AI Act, which promotes sustainable AI practices.

The Rise of European AI

Jordi: France seems to be leading in AI in Europe, especially with companies like Mistral.

Luc: Yes, Mistral is a great example. It’s open source, which allows developers to build on top of it. Even though a lot of investment is international, it’s good to see a French player gaining traction. Germany tried something similar, but France is definitely ahead in this space.

The Future of Chatbots and Interfaces

Luc: Chatbot companies are now evolving into service companies that integrate LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Mistral. At Spoon, we’re going further—beyond text and voice. We build interactive avatars with cameras and sensors that respond to non-verbal cues like smiling, nodding, or moving closer. Our goal is to mimic natural, animal-like interactions to deepen human-machine relationships.

Jordi: I’ve seen the videos from Spoon. It’s very real and responsive—not just AI-generated animations. Truly impressive.

Discussions at NXU Think Tank

Luc: At NXU, our discussions often return to human intelligence when we talk about AI. Philosophers and sociologists bring fascinating insights. For example, we ask: can we trust AI if it hallucinates? But then again, humans hallucinate too. These debates help us understand ourselves better, even if we don’t always find clear answers.

A Single Piece of Advice for Businesses

Luc: My top advice? Look at your tools. New AI-powered tools are emerging monthly for all kinds of professions—sales, recruiting, and more. The companies that embrace these tools will move faster and work smarter. It’s not about replacing people, but about enabling them to do better work. Since the dawn of tools—fire, the wheel, GPS—tools have always changed the way we work.

Advice for New Entrepreneurs in AI

Luc: Whether it’s AI or not, the key is to find a niche problem and offer a solution someone will pay for. That hasn’t changed. For AI, you could build products addressing one of the six limitations I mentioned. For example, legal-specific AIs that hallucinate less. Or tools that help students use AI without losing critical thinking. There are many opportunities if you focus on real needs.

Closing Remarks

Jordi: Luc, thank you so much for your time and for sharing your story and expertise. For those who want to connect, they can find you on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for more amazing guests on the Torras AI Podcast!