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Futurologist Zack Kass calls himself an AI optimist. The former Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI is on a mission to demystify AI and help leaders around the world prepare for the impending technological revolution and the challenges it will bring. He says:
I hope that I can build a groundswell to turn the narrative, which is dystopian right now, into a much more positive one, and I ultimately just want to be considered an AI optimist, someone who believes that this could be the most incredible thing to ever happen to the human experience.
Speaking at the Precisely Trust ā24 event in London this week, he says that when he first started working in AI more than 15 years ago, it was a different world. Researchers were working on statistical machine learning, thinking that the models would only get a little bit better every year. Today, he goes on:
We have reached a point where we can start to wonder what the world will be like, supercharged by this incredibly intelligent system. We are on the verge of the most profound industrial revolution in human history.Ā
Whereas the internet has only taken 30 years to blanket everything, he says that AI is probably going to reach everyone even more quickly ā and it is already much further than many realize. He goes on:
Reality is the technology on your devices today. Everyone should explore these products, you should consider ways in which they can make your life better. The big challenge here is to consider using these products, harnessing this knowledge, and your quality of life.
Three phases of AI adoption
Kass says a recent study he took part in found there’s currently a 12% profit margin improvement by companies meaningfully adopting AI. He predicts the beginning of an incredible boom cycle as companies introduce AI into their systems, both on a cost basis and a revenue basis, as the most important trend he is currently tracking is the rapid decline in cost of this technology. He adds:
Anytime a critical resource declines in cost there is an economic explosion. We saw this with water, foodstuffs, electricity, and, of course, the internet. You’re going to see the same trend over the next 20-30 years in consumption of AI. Economies that figure out how to adopt this technology quickly will do better.
Kass foresees there will be three phases of AI adoption. The first is applications. He says:
Advanced applications are simply technologies that have AI embedded in them to supercharge them. And this phase is very familiar to us, because we live in an app-based world, and it’s something that we can make sense of.
The next will be AI agents, which he says is exciting, but will be limited by adoption. He adds:
We will assign tasks and goals to AI agents, and have those systems execute the tasks and goals. Some people simply won’t want the AI system to navigate all of their apps, but those who harness it will see incredible efficiency gains.
The third is the natural language operating system. He says:
This will see two marked changes. We will navigate away from a cell phone, more to a personal device that is wearable, like a watch or a pair of glasses. Then we’re going to move to a world where we start interacting with machines the way we interact with each other.
He thinks the transition to this New Renaissance, as he calls it, is going to be very difficult, as people grapple with the idea of technological and societal thresholds. He explains:
A technological threshold simply asks the question, What can a machine do? Societal threshold asks the question, What do we want a machine to do? What are we willing to let it do? Today we have a bunch of technological thresholds that are being met, but not societal thresholds.
He believes this disconnect between technological and societal thresholds is because of the speed of technological advances, and the human love of being in control. He says:
It is critical that we start to harness these technologies to improve our standard of living. Simply saying we don’t tolerate mechanical failure isn’t actually the appropriate way to approach it.
Another major concern during the transition is that AI will take peopleās jobs. However, Kass believes this has more to do with peopleās ways of identifying their own value. He says:
There’s a ton of consternation right now about job loss. I think this risk is not economic. We’ve observed two industrial revolutions, and on the back end of both, we’ve had more jobs, unemployment has declined, and we’ve had better jobs.
I think that the crisis we are now facing is not a job displacement, it’s a world where people will really struggle to connect with who they are. They can’t confidently say, āThis is what I do.ā This is going to be so important for all of you as employees and employers.
Reasons for optimism
Kass also expects the AI revolution will lead to a wave of scientific breakthroughs. He says:
Already, the indicators are flashing green. December last year, we discovered our first antibiotic in 60 years because of AI. In March this year, we split HIV out of DNA because of AI. We now know how to remove HIV from the human body.
This is not just going to apply to bio and life sciences. We are very close to solving quantum computing. We have pretty good ideas of understanding nanotechnology. These breakthroughs will lead to a chain reaction of other breakthroughs.
In spite of identity displacement, he is optimistic that there will be a wave of worker productivity and job satisfaction. He goes on:
A lot of our work today consists of reports. It’s a feature of working at a large corporation or an academic institution. I think a lot of that work is about to go away, and it’s already happening. People will be more interested in doing their job, because their job becomes more satisfying, and that leads to a much more productive workforce.
Kass advises that the best way to prepare for the future is to be adaptable. He comments:
It is pretty clear at this point that we have to prepare for tremendous change. That means adaptability as a strategy. For the first time ever, people, systems, companies, need to start creating robustness in their lives to prepare for these moments, which means simply being adaptable. In my opinion, that means learning how to learn.
He concludes:
One thing we are talking to companies about is the idea of designing your work and life and your systems around things that AI cannot do. It is very clear that AI is getting very good at some things, namely computational work. It’s also very clear that AI is not getting good at other things. So in a world where you can be anything, my challenge to everyone is to be adaptable, curious, and empathetic.
My take
As many companies struggle to see how they are going to take advantage of AI, and to prepare to incorporate it into their businesses, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the possibilities it might offer. There is no doubt that some companies are over-hyping their AI credentials, but that doesnāt make the possibilities any less impressive. As a fully confessed AI optimist, Zack Kass offers an upbeat antidote to recent negativity about the case for AI.