Infosys cofounder Narayana Murthy cautions entrepreneurs against AI hype
He suggested that the most important thing is to impart new skills to people whose jobs may be eliminated. Murthy emphasized on the need for reskilling and upskilling to ensure that people are not left jobless. He also highlighted the role of governments and corporations in this process.
N R Narayana Murthy discusses AI Hype in India
Infosys cofounder N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday sought to calm the exaggerated hype around artificial intelligence (AI) in India, noting that many systems being labelled AI were nothing more than old programming. “I think somehow it has become a fashion in India to talk of AI for everything. I have seen several normal, ordinary programs touted as AI,” he remarked at TiECon Mumbai, an annual conference of entrepreneurs.
In a conversation with TiE Mumbai founding president Harish Mehta, Murthy explained that there are two fundamental principles behind true AI: the first is machine learning, which enables large-scale correlation to make predictions; the second is deep learning, which mimics how the human brain works, using unsupervised algorithms. “I find that most of the so-called AI I see is silly and old programming,” Murthy stated bluntly. Unsupervised algorithms that use deep learning and neural networks are the ones that have much greater potential to do things that will mimic human beings better and better, he said.
AI's Potential Impact on Jobs and Economy
Acknowledging that AI will cut jobs, he stressed that it can also lead to economic growth. “In each tech, certain jobs will be eliminated, but if used in an assistive manner, we can grow the economy.”
Murthy's Call to Entrepreneurs
Murthy also called on entrepreneurs to become job creators. “I have no doubt that each of you will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and that is how you solve the problem of poverty. You don’t solve the problem of poverty with freebies. No country has succeeded in that,” he said.