AMD CEO Lisa Su does not believe artificial intelligence will lead to widespread job cuts, pushing back against predictions from other tech leaders that it could displace a generation of workers. Speaking to Wired, the head of the $300 billion US chipmaker said AI’s real impact will come from enhancing productivity and solving complex problems, not eliminating the need for people.
“You can look at AI in two ways,” Su explained. “One is to hold it back because it could be dangerous, and the other is to move quickly but apply the right judgement to the information. I’m in the second camp. People are the judges of what truth is, and we’re still hiring more and more engineers because they’re the final arbiters of our engineering.”
Su said she believes in the potential of artificial general intelligence (AGI), but not in the idea that AI will surpass human intelligence or trigger a doomsday scenario. Current AI tools, she argued, are still far from “great” and mostly handle mundane tasks. True value, in her view, will come when AI can tackle challenges that would otherwise take years to solve.
She gave the example of chip design, which typically takes AMD around three years. “What does that look like if I could do that in six months?” she asked. Such breakthroughs, Su believes, could compress timelines in many industries, from engineering to drug discovery.
Comparing AI’s emergence to past technological shifts, Su said: “The internet is not a bad comparison, but AI is more foundational in terms of productivity. Some people compare it to the Industrial Revolution, and that’s actually not a bad comparison.” She predicted that once AI becomes mainstream, society will take it for granted, much like the internet today, with its true potential judged by long-term progress rather than its current state.
One area she is personally passionate about is healthcare, citing the opportunity for AI to transform everything from drug discovery to patient care. “We should be able to cure diseases without trial and error. This is a perfect use case for AI,” she said, describing the possibility of connecting the entire process from research to treatment as a major step towards what some might call “superintelligence.”
While acknowledging there may be setbacks, Su remains optimistic. “I would bet on humanity being OK,” she concluded.
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