Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy does not view Artificial Intelligence as a job threat but as a groundbreaking augmentation of human capabilities as AI is touted as the next frontier in technology. In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Murthy delves into the profound implications of AI, emphasizing its role in solving problems and how the human mind is the "most flexible instrument."
Addressing the rapid pace of AI breakthroughs, Murthy applauds the technology for augmenting human intellect. From ChatGPT-4 to supervised algorithmic thinking, he acknowledges the crucial role of data in shaping machine learning.
“Algorithms, whether it's unsupervised algorithms or semi-supervised, whatever it is, you need lot of data. You need to collect lot of data. Because at the end of the day, machine learning by and large is a very complex piece of pattern matching. Even ChatGPT has large language models. It's all about pattern matching,” the 77-year-old said.
Urging a shift from an oral to a written culture, Murthy stresses the importance of generating vast amounts of relevant data unique to India's cultural and developmental context.
Dispelling fears of AI rendering coders obsolete, Murthy draws parallels with historical technological advancements. Reflecting on the case tools of the 1970s, he emphasizes the human mind's adaptability as the most flexible instrument. Murthy envisions AI as a tool to aid, not replace, human ingenuity, asserting that its true potential lies in addressing more complex problems and, in turn, making the world a better place.
“The moment you started thinking of bigger and more complex problems, these tools could not handle it. So what my personal feeling is, I may be wrong is that as long as we use AI as a tool to aid human beings to do bigger things, to do more complex things, I think we will start solving more complex problems,” he added.
Murthy also identifies areas such as automatic driving and precision surgery where AI can enhance human capabilities.
“Using AI in controlling nuclear reactors is a wonderful thing or controlling power plant is an excellent thing, right? So there are areas where human beings can use AI to reduce the resolution time for reaction and make those systems perform better. And surgery, for example, precision surgery. AI is very, very useful in precision surgery, robotics is very useful,” Murthy said adding there are potential challenges as well.
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“As long as, as I pointed out earlier, we ensure that these technologies don't fall into the hands of the evil people. That's it. But that same thing gun, the moment an evil person has the gun, we have seen what has happened, right in the US,” he concluded on the matter.
Watch: Narayana Murthy speaks on AI and more with Moneycontrol
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