We had many great speakers and personalities coming together in Davos at the 500 square meter (56,000 square foot) TCS Dome facility on January 17, 2024 on the theme Imgination in Action – Bold Actions and Global Progress. One of the most interesting breakout discussions, in my opinion, came from Jeremy Wertheimer. It was short and good.
We had just finished our 15th Panel of the day. Sir Tim Bernes-Lee had just taken the stage and I was looking forward to welcoming Yann LeCun, winner of the 2019 Turing Prize, at our 17th sign. We had ten more panels left. The 16thth The panel was particularly interesting – we heard speeches from the presidents of Ghana (Nana Akufo-Addo) and Rwanda (Paul Kagame), as well as Nelson Mandela’s grandson Kweku Mandela, among others. There was a five-minute interval while we waited for the two presidents and their teams to enter the room. I handed the mic to Jeremy and asked him to give a 5 minute talk on some of the fundamental principles that should be in our vision of AI for the future.
Wertheimer has a pretty extensive credentials exploring AI over the past few decades. He started at the MIT AI Lab in the 1980s, studying greats like Marvin Minsky, earned his doctorate in 1996, and started a company called ITA Software. He’s now involved in startups and has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening as artificial intelligence finally takes off.
So what did Jeremy have to say?
First of all, he spoke spontaneously, because I brought him on stage.
But he did a great job talking about the importance of having the responsibility to serve a new generation of young people with AI.
“We’re doing well on AI, we’re doing a good job,” he said.
The challenge, he suggested, is for governments and institutions, and it is about how to use what we have.
Referring to the old adage that change happens slowly, then very suddenly, he gave the example of AI giving each child a high-quality tutor as a resource and, for example, professional coaching after leaving school.
“All economic systems work well,” he said. “We will optimize economically, but who takes care of the children?”
He pointed to the March 14 release of GPT4, which the MIT folks call “Pi Day,” as a flashpoint for this kind of progress.
“I told my team, let’s see what happens,” he said.
Promoting the idea of rapid curriculum reform and adding AI soon, he said, institutions are slow to change, but technology is evolving quickly.
“Don’t wait,” he said. “We have opportunities now.”
Additionally, he mentioned teaching things like critical thinking and citizenship.
But the bulk of his remarks centered on youth empowerment: instead of just figuring out how to do the same old things in a new way, we should be doing new things for the next generation!
It was inspiring and you will see a lot more of it in Davos in the coming time. But this contribution from a big name in IT deserves reflection.