Telcos should steer clear of AI hype and remember that it is just a better way of producing software that harnesses the computational power now available. This is a line that has been pushed for some time by Geoff Hollingworth, Chief Marketing Officer at Rakuten Symphony, the sibling to Rakuten Mobile, dedicated to 4G and 5G infrastructure based on cloud-native, open RAN technology. Hollingworth was at it again at the recent TM Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark, elaborating on his view that telcos should home in on practical applications of AI at the operating level as part of their drive to reduce costs and progress towards greater autonomy. He seems to imply that agentic AI can score by intervening in workflows…