Climate and entrepreneurship with Sam Altman

In a speech at Harvard University on May 2nd, Sam Altman said many things about the times we live in, the challenges we face, but also the opportunities we have. He was talking about.

One of the questions he was asked was about the need for energy to power artificial intelligence balanced with the hope of achieving decarbonization.

“It’s true that AI requires enormous amounts of energy,” he said. “But compared to what the rest of the world needs, (it’s) not huge… If we spend 1% of the world’s electricity training strong AI, and that AI Finding a way to achieve this will be a huge victory, especially if that 1% makes people’s lives better.”

He said that while the internet has resulted in net energy savings, AI has the potential to do the same.

“We’re going to continue to come up with more efficient algorithms, more efficient chips,” he said. “We’re going to enhance our capabilities in this way. We think it’s important to address this issue, but we’re going to do it in all these great ways.”

Regarding the fatalism of some climate hawks and those who are bearish about new technology, Altman suggested that it’s better to take a positive angle and take initiative to make the world a better place.

“This is a highly counterproductive trend,” he said of the gloomy outlook predicting general doom and gloom, and encouraged setting goals for prosperity and abundance. “We need a better life for our children – please make part of your life’s efforts to fight this – it’s the only way forward… Don’t sit back and wait There are always people who say, “We shouldn’t do AI, because we shouldn’t do AI.” Let’s burn some more carbon dioxide. We shouldn’t deploy AI because we haven’t adequately addressed bias. ” – the tendency to oppose progress, “the tendency to oppose that people deserve to live better…” is something we can all fight against. against. “

That brought a huge applause!

Arman talked about the idea of ​​understanding what AI can contribute, referring to the call for scientific discovery and how AI can facilitate it.

“Everyone wants more, better and faster,” he said. “Science is how we get there.”

He talked about the possibility of everyone having an expert in their pocket to help them self-optimize, and other huge potential outcomes that could have a net positive effect.

Afterwards, Altman said a few words to young researchers.

“I think it’s okay to take more risks than usual,” he said. “I think you can have more impact. Certainly, I’m biased against doing things with AI. In general, I think one of the most important lessons to learn early in your career is to I think the core thing is that you can figure anything out, and that no one has all the answers when you start a job, but you’ll stumble along the way and get over it and get to the most interesting problems. I try to drift towards it. youAnd have faith that you can be around the most impressive people, that you can do the right thing again, and that you can do more than you think, faster than you think. ”

He summarized much of this into the phrase “just do it,” which he said sounds empty but is actually a powerful concept.

He also suggested that young career professionals can create a personal mission statement or signal what they’re passionate about as a way to move forward.

He was equally optimistic when asked about startups.

“Startups tend to succeed when big platforms are transitioning,” he says. “Large companies are slower and less innovative than startups, but they have many other advantages.”

He suggested that now is the time, as AI is revolutionizing business. He pointed to the aftershocks of technologies such as the Internet and his AWS cloud service, which itself had a huge impact on the market.

“For over 10 years, we were just kind of waiting,” he said. “If history is any guide, this is a great time to start a company.”