Despite the rising concern among investors about generative AI and its profitability, the technology continues to scale greater heights, potentially matching and on the verge of surpassing human cognitive capabilities.
Last year, multiple reports emerged claiming top AI labs, including Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic won’t be able to develop advanced AI models due to a lack of high-quality content for model training.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt disputed the claims, indicating that there was no evidence suggesting scaling laws had begun stunting AI progressions. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman echoed similar sentiments, indicating “There is no wall.”
However, there’s a high probability that AGI (artificial general intelligence) might be on the horizon. According to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, AI could be smarter than all humans by next year (via The Wall Street Journal).
For context, AGI is a type of artificial intelligence that aims to perform any intellectual task that a human can do. Unlike narrow AI, which is designed to perform specific tasks, AGI would possess the flexibility and adaptability of human intelligence, and more.
While speaking at Journal House in Davos, Anthropic CEO indicated:
“I don’t know exactly when it’ll come, I don’t know if it’ll be 2027. I think it’s plausible it could be longer than that. I don’t think it will be a whole bunch longer than that when AI systems are better than humans at almost everything. Better than almost all humans at almost everything. And then eventually better than all humans at everything, even robotics.”
Amodei’s comments come at a critical time when the demand for computing power by proprietary AI models is at an all-time high. For context, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently admitted that the company was unable to ship its new GPT-4.5 to its ChatGPT Plus users because it was unable to meet the GPU needs.
The surge in demand we’ve seen over the last year, and particularly in the last three months, has overwhelmed our ability to provide the needed compute.
Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei
Interestingly, Anthropic seemingly shares the same GPU struggles with OpenAI. The company’s CEO indicated that he wouldn’t be surprised if more than a million chips are powering its AI advances, including Claude by 2026.
While speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei indicated that advanced AI systems would foster the development of sophisticated robotics.
“[If] we make good enough AI systems, they’ll enable us to make better robots. And so when that happens, we will need to have a conversation… at places like this event, about how do we organize our economy, right? How do humans find meaning?”
However, he admitted that the development of robotics powered by advanced AI systems could potentially lead to the rapid replacement of human professionals at work. As such, when we get to this juncture, it’s important to re-evaluate everything, especially how labor and humanity is valued.
Bill Gates says AI will replace humans for most things
With the rapid emergence and adoption of AI, critical issues arise. Multiple reports have surfaced suggesting that there’s a 99.9% chance AI will lead to the end of humanity, and the only way around it is not to build AI in the first place.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently predicted AI will gradually take over more professions, eventually replacing humans in the workplace.
He admitted that the rapid emergence of the technology is beginning to scare people, as humans won’t be required for most things in the new era of innovation.
However, the philanthropic billionaire indicated that it’d be mostly up to humans to decide where to incorporate AI. According to Gates:
“There will be some things we reserve for ourselves. But in terms of making things and moving things and growing food, over time those will be basically solved problems.”
Last year, Sam Altman indicated that AGI would be achieved within the next five years, further claiming that it would “whoosh by” with surprisingly little societal impact.
