In the past few weeks, we have all come across various views and perspectives of leaders on generative AI and how it will change the world as we know it. For Yuval Noah Harari, historian and philosopher, AI could potentially mean the end of human history. In his column for the Economist, he pondered over the questions plaguing his mind - What will happen to the course of history when AI takes over culture, and begins producing stories, melodies, laws and religions?, What would happen once a non-human intelligence becomes better than the average human at telling stories, drawing images, and writing scriptures?

The Godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, in an interview with The Guardian’s Alex Hern shares his fear that the pace of improvements in AI could be a real risk to humans, and the possibility that it could lead to people eventually being controlled – or even wiped out – by AI. AI research professor Erik Brynjolfsson has highlighted the material risks such rapid developments present. His advice - We need to catch up and keep control of these technologies. 

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and Yoshua Bengio along with 1000 others signed a letter calling for a pause in the training of AI as they are concerned about its impact on humanity. The letter, issued by the non-profit Future of Life Institute, calls for a six-month halt to the dangerous race to develop AI technology that is more powerful than OpenAI’s GPT4, while experts jointly develop and implement safety protocols. And, if a pause can’t be hastily enacted, governments should step in.

Last year, the launch of ChatGPT resulted in a groundswell of investment and interest in AI. Microsoft integrated the technology with its Bing search engine, while Google rushed through the launch of its own offering, Bard. With AI, there are benefits to business in terms of improved productivity. But AI is only as good as the data on which it is being trained. Companies need to consider that when working out how and when to use it.

In this landscape where we are in a dilemma about the confounding effects of AI, it is critical to get the right facts from experts, who are ahead in the play. That’s why at People Matters TechHR India, we have curated sessions that revolve around digital twins in talent management, ethics of AI, quantum computing, human enhancement and gene editing technologies, among others. 

And taking us through the impact of AI will be psychologist Dr Tomas Chamorro Premuzic, who recently published the book, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique. The chief innovation officer at the Manpower Group, co-founder of Deeper Signals and Metaprofiling, and professor of Business Psychology at University College London and Columbia, Tomas has extensively spoken about the potential gender biases underlying ChatGPT, redefining human expertise amid the AI wave, future-proofing your career and why AI might make us less creative and boring mortals. 

There’s a reason he is known as the most prolific social scientist of his generation, and that’s exactly why you shouldn’t miss the chance to gain valuable insights from him at the 10th edition of People Matters TechHR India on August 3 and 4 at Leela Ambience, Gurugram. Register now!