Tech CEO issues warning to AI-skeptics

29 May, 2023 15:41 / Updated 2 years ago
Companies and individuals without expertise will perish, Nvidia's co-founder has claimed

Artificial Intelligence will transform the corporate landscape and change every single job, and those who fail to recognize this will be left behind, Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang has warned.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, the tech mogul stressed that both companies and individuals should adapt to the new wave of AI technologies or risk falling behind.

“Agile companies will take advantage of AI and boost their position. Companies less so will perish,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “While some worry that AI may take their jobs, someone who’s expert with AI will,” Huang told graduating students.

Unlike a number of his peers in the tech space, Huang does not seem to be concerned about the risks posed by the rise of AI technology or its potentially adverse effects. He argued that it will soon be used to boost the performance of workers in a wide range of industries and create new jobs that have never existed before, while also making some professions obsolete. He encouraged students to create something new in the AI age and fast, or risk being left behind.

“In 40 years, we created the PC, internet, mobile, cloud, and now the AI era. What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it like we did. Run, don’t walk,” he said. “Either you are running for food, or you are running from becoming food.”

However, despite the booming interest in AI spurred by the release of chatbots such as ChatGPT, several high-profile figures in the tech industry have warned about the potential dangers posed by the unregulated adoption of AI technology. 

Earlier this month, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which is responsible for the development of ChatGPT, testified before the US Congress that he was worried AI technology could go “quite wrong,” and urged lawmakers to establish regulations. 

In March, a group of around 1,000 tech industry leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, signed an open letter warning of the potential dangers of an unregulated AI arms race and urged Silicon Valley to take a six-month pause on further development.