Years before OpenAI's ChatGPT showed the world what the creative technology of artificial intelligence could do, venture capitalist Kai Fu Li saw AI's disruptive potential in the labor market.
The chairman and chief executive of Senvation Ventures predicted in 2017 that AI will be bigger than all of humanity's previous technological revolutions, including electricity and the Internet, adding that AI is more capable than people.
“These are things that are supernatural, and we think they will happen in every industry, replace maybe 50 percent of human jobs, create enormous wealth for mankind and eradicate poverty, ” Lee told CNBC at the time, later predicting it would happen in the next 10 years.
Fast forward seven years to the Fortune Innovation Forum in Hong Kong last March, when he sat down with good fortune Editor-in-Chief Alison Shawntell.
With the timeline of his prediction only three years away, she asked him if it still held, and he replied, “It's actually extraordinarily accurate. People have told me 2017, 2018.” , was criticized for being too aggressive in 2019, and I was a little nervous at the time. But when Gen AI came out, I think everyone is on the bandwagon and believes it's the right pace.
AI will likely eliminate white-collar jobs faster than blue-collar jobs, Lee added, describing it as a very important issue that some countries are beginning to realize. That it needs to be resolved.
When asked what parents should tell their children about their future careers, he said the first thing people should do is “stop talking about kids being chat GPs.” Using T to cheat.”
A chatbot, which can answer questions on a variety of topics in natural language, is just another tool, much like Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, he argued.
When kids grow up, enter the workforce, and are evaluated on their performance, employers will see the end results of their work and not whether they used ChatGPT or a Google search, Lee continued.
“We need to encourage people to use AI and use all the tools to be the best they can be,” he said. “Also, it's a great guide to what they can aspire to and what not to follow.”
To be sure, Lee still believes that there is something unique about our humanity, saying that people have souls while machines never do. “Empathy and compassion. We have the ability to feel and love. We have the ability to connect with other people and build trust and win trust.”
In fact, more than any technical or business skill, the most important skill is being able to gain the trust of other people, which is achieved through authenticity, teamwork, collaboration and high emotional regard, he explained.
“Do I think AI can fake it? Yes. Do I think people will accept fake AI, at least for the next 50 years? No, so your children survive and their children survive.” “That's enough to figure out the next step,” Lee said.