‘AI will not take your job. Somebody who knows to use AI will’

Bengaluru: Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in a report. While the transition to AI seems abrupt, Ted Souder, founder of Wiggs Holding and former Google executive says that this is just the beginning of the AI journey.

In a conversation with DH’s Lavpreet Kaur, on the sidelines of Dubai Business Forum, he discusses how this technology will have an overpowering impact on every aspect of life and the role countries like India stand to play in this evolving ecosystem.

Edited excerpts:

AI adoption: How do you see the developed and developing countries faring? Also the big and small businesses?

I think those countries that have younger workforce will see faster adoption because they are not saddled with the old ways of doing things. I have seen businesses that are old, traditional and are not willing to change, getting surpassed by the younger, more nimble startups that know nothing but change.

We can't rely just on the biggest 5-6 tech companies to run the AI world. So in emerging markets like Dubai, India and the global south, we will see a real acceleration in startups and investments and opportunities that will fundamentally change how the world uses this technology.

Where is India placed in this scheme of things?

India has highly educated workers, tonnes of venture capital, a startup mentality, a government that supports it, along with infrastructure and a near-Silicon Valley environment. It has everything for this to become a reality. On the other hand, countries that do not have such an ecosystem may find it difficult.

It is an opportunity for businesses, startups, universities and others to bring in outside perspectives to make sure that different ideas are taken into account for the most complete approach to leverage AI. Unfortunately, around the world, the focus on nationalism (read as protectionism)  is not going to serve businesses well, as countries would lose access to top engineering talent to build out these models.

At what stage of evolution is AI in, after the advent of tools like ChatGPT? 

To borrow baseball or cricketing terminology, the players have not yet arrived to bat. So it is early. We have just come to associate AI with a technology like ChatGPT to augment tasks, which is fine, but that is not the future of AI.

The future of AI, much of which is yet to be discovered, is going to be about augmenting and replacing current capabilities in ways that were not possible before because the computers and the models behind it are infinitely more capable than the human brain. 

That brings us to the flip side of the AI story - its impact on jobs.

AI is not going to take your job. Someone who knows how to use AI will take your job. 

There are jobs that are mundane, repetitive or even dangerous. If they get automated, it is not a bad thing. That will help put people's skills and talent to better use in another direction. So there will be a need for upskilling and retraining while some will be replaced. That's a fact of growth. The younger generation will know nothing but AI and need to learn this from the early stages.

How are we doing on upskilling and retraining?

I don't think we're doing a good job.  The strategic imperative paradigm is to educate young students and workers on the technologies for the digital future. People like Fred Slonaker in Nairobi have been attempting to train a billion workers on tech capabilities and similar needs to be done in India and of course everywhere.

It's an opportunity in itself. It is going to take a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of smart, motivated people to set that in motion.

There are also concerns about cyber security & the risks to AI thereof.

It is still too early and there is a lot unknown as the genie is out of the bottle. It is going to potentially turn into the issue of our time.  But I do not believe that AI as a whole is regulatable. Lots of governments across the world, tech associations and smart people are working on policies to contain some of the negative aspects of AI. That's the right thing to do.

How are AI and technology going to shape trade and commerce?

What people do need to recognise is that AI’s impact is going to be felt across the board. Be it businesses, schools, governments, sports, cities and countries. Businesses that believe otherwise are in for a rough ride. So chambers of commerce need to be the centres of innovation in digital transformation and supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Ted Souder Founder- Wiggs Holding and former Google executive