Years before OpenAI’s ChatGPT showed the world what generative AI technology could do, venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee saw the disruptive potential of AI in the job market.
In 2017, the chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures predicted that AI would be bigger than all of humanity’s previous technological revolutions combined, including electricity and the Internet, adding that AI is far more capable than humans.
“This is superhuman stuff and we think it will be in every industry, probably replace 50% of human jobs, create enormous amounts of wealth for humanity and eliminate poverty,” Lee told CNBC at the time, later predicting it would happen within the next 10 years.
Fast forward seven years to the Fortune Innovation Forum in Hong Kong this March. when he sat down with Luck Editor-in-Chief Alison Shontell.
Since the date of his prediction was only three years away, she asked him if it still stood, and he replied, “It’s actually incredibly accurate. People criticized me for being too aggressive in 2017, 2018, 2019 and I was a little nervous then. But when the AI generation came along, I think everyone got on board with the trend and believed it was the right pace.”
AI will likely eliminate white-collar jobs faster than blue-collar jobs, Lee added, calling it a very serious problem that some countries have begun to recognize needs to be addressed.
When asked what parents should tell their children about their future careers, he responded that the first thing people should do is “stop this nonsense about kids using ChatGPT to cheat.”
A chatbot that can provide natural language responses to queries on a wide range of topics is another tool like Microsoft Word or Abode Photoshop, he said.
When kids grow up and go to work and are judged on their performance, bosses will look at the end result of their work, not whether they used ChatGPT or Google Search, Lee continued.
“We need to encourage people to use AI and use all the tools so they can be the best they can be,” he said. “It’s also a great guide to what they can strive for and what they shouldn’t follow.”
Of course, Lee still believes that there is something unique about our humanity, arguing that humans have souls while machines will never have one. “We have compassion and empathy. We have emotions and the ability to love. We have the ability to connect with other people, build trust and gain trust.”
In fact, more important than any technical or business skill, the most important skill is the ability to gain the trust of others, which is achieved through sincerity, teamwork, sharing of experience and a high emotional level, he explained.
“Do I think AI can fake it? Yes. Do I think people will accept fake AI for at least the next 50 years? No. So this is enough time for your children to survive and take the next step for their children,” Lee said.