Ken Griffin talks to Citadel and Citadel Securities interns during a discussion moderated by Citadel software engineer and former intern Bharath Jaladi.
Courtesy: Castle
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, said he is skeptical that artificial intelligence could soon make human jobs obsolete because he sees flaws in the machine learning models applied in certain situations.
“We're at what is widely seen as a real inflection point in the evolution of technology, with the rise of large-scale language models. Some are convinced that within about three years we'll have everything we humans have. will be done in some form by LLMs and other AI tools,” Griffin said Friday during an event for Citadel's new class of interns. “For a number of reasons, I don't believe these models will achieve this kind of progress in the near future.”
The rapid rise of AI has caused the world to consider its far-reaching effects on society, including the loss of jobs due to the technology. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is among the many who have repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by AI to humanity. He has called AI more dangerous than nuclear weapons, saying there will come a time when “no jobs are needed.”
Griffin, whose hedge fund and electronic market maker has been at the forefront of automation, said machine learning tools have their limitations when it comes to adapting to change.
“Machine learning models don't work well in a world where governments change. Self-driving cars don't do very well because of the snow in the north. When the terrain changes, they have to guess,” Griffin said. “I don't know what to do,” Griffin said. “Machine learning models work better when there is consistency.”
Still, the billionaire investor believes that the power of modern technology cannot be denied in the long term, and even sees it leading to the end of cancer one day.
“The increase in computing power is allowing us to solve all kinds of problems that just couldn't be solved five, 10, 15 years ago,” Griffin said. “This is going to revolutionize health care. We will end cancer as you know it in your lifetime.”
Citadel has long placed a strong emphasis on hiring, not hesitating to put responsibility in the hands of young employees and even interns, the CEO said.
The firm's internship program has become one of the most competitive in the country. More than 85,000 students applied for nearly 300 positions this year, representing an acceptance rate of less than 0.5%, lower than Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The people we hire today are not going to be leaders in 30 or 40 years, but just a few years,” Griffin said.