Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain, believes that artificial intelligence (AI) will be the new electricity, transforming every industry. He predicts that AI will soon be a standard part of company infrastructure, just as electricity is today. Ng, who also co-founded Coursera, made these comments at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit.
Ng also said that the AI industry is currently in a state akin to the early days of the internet. He warned that companies not investing in AI now could face a similar fate to businesses that didn’t adapt to the internet in the late 1990s. He highlighted the importance of data strategy, stating that companies need to decide what data they collect and how they use it, as well as investing in AI talent.
While acknowledging that AI will cause job displacement, Ng is optimistic about the technology’s potential to create new jobs. He compared the situation to the advent of the ATM, which, despite predictions, did not lead to fewer bank tellers but instead allowed banks to open more branches. Ng believes that AI could have a similar effect, creating new roles that we can’t yet foresee.
Ng also expressed the need for society to do a better job at supporting those whose jobs are displaced by AI. He suggested that governments should play a role in this, possibly through retraining programmes or income support.