Zhou Hongyi, founder and CEO of cybersecurity software giant 360 Group, recently warned that people who do not embrace AI now will be out of a job in three to five years.
In a talk program with CCTV, China’s state broadcaster, Zhou said in three to five years to come, all industries will be disrupted and reshaped by ChatGPT-like technologies.
Those who stubbornly resist the trend and refuse to embrace AI will be “eliminated,” he noted.
It’s not the first time Zhou has warned about the threat AI poses to mankind. He spoke on many occasions about the sheer scale of creativity to be unleashed by generative AI represented by ChatGPT.
In late March, he made remarks that were then criticized for downplaying the danger of unbridled expansion of AI.
“AI is not here to replace mankind; rather, it is here to enhance us,” he was then quoted as saying.
Furthermore, Zhou said the advances of AI will enable man to experience the “largest emancipation of productivity since the Industrial Revolution.”
This time around, he was even more outspoken about the disruptive nature of ChatGPT.
“Don’t see it (ChatGPT) as only a search engine or chatbot in a new era,” said Zhou during the TV talk. “These are just the trappings of its first edition.”
Although the Chinese government has highlighted the need to develop China’s own large language model to rival ChatGPT, the fact is that a big chunk of the population remains cut off from the latest innovations in AI.
In China and its Hong Kong special administrative region, people need a VPN and a non-local mobile phone number to access OpenAI’s chatbot service.
This forces many to seek workarounds to try this chatbot.
Aside from the role of ChatGPT, the tech mogul also announced the launch of 360 Group’s AI marketplace during the program.
This is a platform hosting AI software and applications from developers around the world. Categorized into different groups, these AI tools serve users’ needs for graphic designing, writing, music composition and other sorts of tasks.
The internet browser of 360 Group has 400 million users, and thus can provide an entry point and showcase opportunity for these AI applications, Zhou claimed.
