I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Dr Fei-Fei Li – one of the pioneering researchers of the AI platform shift we’re all experiencing. A few reflections:
(1) When someone asked Dr Li if AI would take away all jobs, she had a thought provoking reflection from her current experience as a start-up founder. She shared that jobs don’t just provide income, they provide humans with dignity.
Our goal with any technology should be to increase overall human dignity, not reduce it. So if AI’s impact is going to be counter to that, we need to think and act differently.
She repeated this idea again when someone referenced a race between humans and AI. Her belief was that we’re using the wrong frame. It would be similar to say there was a race between humans and wheels (which we’d lose). Instead, we used wheel technology to make progress toward villages and cities and so on.
At a time when I repeatedly hear prediction from technologists about AI taking away most jobs (vs. the inevitable displacement that occurs with technological shifts), Dr Li’s response felt both thoughtful and refreshing.
(2) Her reflection on education was that we seem to be training students to take a couple of tests that AI can pass with flying colors. It feels more appropriate for us to rethink this and ensure the baseline is where AI is right now rather than simply getting to the current baseline.
It resonated.
(3) My biggest reflection from the talk was how she made me feel. She came across as a leader who was thoughtful, intelligent, considerate, bold, curious, and humble. The kind of inspiring leader whose quiet and soft-spoken notes rung loudly because of the insight packed in them.
The kind of leader we’d be lucky to follow.
