Ilya Sutskever thinks AI will eventually be able to do everything that humans can, though it may take years.
During his convocation lecture at his alma mater, the University of Toronto, last week, Sutskever, the cofounder and former chief scientist of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, discussed the technology. According to him, the true difficulty with AI is that it is extremely radical and unprecedented, and it will change significantly from how it is now to how it is in the future.
According to Sutskever, artificial intelligence still has a lot of things to learn. While it is already superior to humans in some areas, there are still a lot of things that it is not as good at and is lacking in. However, he stated that he thinks AI will continue to advance and eventually be able to perform all human-level tasks.
How do I know that for sure? Then he went on. Since our brains are biological computers, why can’t a digital brain or computer do the same functions as ours? Because our brains are biological computers, this is a one-sentence explanation of why AI will be able to perform all of those tasks.
In keeping with the tradition of convocation and commencement rituals, Sutskever also offered guidance to the recent graduates. He pleaded with them to try not to regret the past, to accept things as they are, and to work toward making things better.
It’s very simple to think, “Oh, something happened, something is unfair,” he said, referring to a poor past choice or unfortunate event. It’s quite simple to think in this way for extended periods of time, but it’s far more effective and efficient to say, “Okay, things are the way they are. What’s the next best step?”
However, Sutskever has not always followed his own advice. He has already expressed regret for his part in the dismissal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November 2023. The board, of which Sutskever was a member, dismissed Altman after claiming that it no longer had faith in his capacity to run OpenAI and that he had not always been truthful in his discussions.
Sutskever, however, apologized for his role in the dismissal a few days later and was among hundreds of OpenAI staff members who signed an open letter threatening to resign unless Altman was given a chance to return as CEO.
When Sutskever posted on X at the time, he stated, “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions.” “I never intended to harm OpenAI.” In the same month, Altman was reinstated as CEO. Six months later, Sutskever quit OpenAI to launch a research institute devoted to creating “safe superintelligence.”