Does the world need a reality check on the level of hype around AI?
In an appearance on CNBC Street Signs Asia, I weighed in on that very question. Reporters Tanvir Gill and Sam Vadas asked where the AI revolution currently stands, how it will change our ways of working and who the winners are likely to be. Want to know more? Watch the video or read the complete transcript. If you’re short on time, here are my top five takeaways:
- Tanvir and Sam asked about hype, and I told them I do see an over-rotation toward AI. My prediction is that 70-80% of AI startups may not make it — but the 20% that do survive and thrive will be like nothing we’ve seen before.
- As AI plays a bigger role in our society, the easy will be automated, the hard will become easy and the impossible will become possible. Right now we’re in the first phase: automating the easy. Where things start getting interesting is at that next level: making the hard easy. And when the impossible starts becoming possible, we’ll begin to see the birth of entirely new companies and industries.
- Success with AI depends on the “vast and the fast”: vast data and fast compute. Those who have it will win, which is why it’s so exciting to see Singapore positioning itself as a smart nation.
- Infrastructure investments are key, because those who win the infrastructure war will win the AI war. As with any tech trend, the infrastructure vendors win first. With the internet, that was the Ciscos and Sun (Microsystems) of the world. And in the early days of AI, it’s open AI, Nvidia and chip manufacturers.
- Over the next three to five years, we’ll see application developers take center stage, and that’s when AI will become immersive in our lives.
I’m loving this time in Singapore and India; it’s a sincere pleasure to be back in a region so full of talent and so friendly to innovation. I’m grateful for the chance to share that excitement with the CNBC audience.
