OpenAI co-founder says AI will do everything humans can and here is what students can do

India Today

19 hours ago

AI may be far from perfect today, but one of its original architects believes the technology is marching toward a future where it can do everything humans can – and possibly more. Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and former chief scientist at OpenAI, used his convocation address at the University of Toronto to reflect on the progress of artificial intelligence and the scale of transformation it could bring. "The real challenge with AI is that it is really unprecedented and really extreme, and it's going to be very different in the future compared to the way it is today," he told the graduating class on June 6.advertisementWhile acknowledging that today's AI models are better than humans at some things and worse at many others, Sutskever said it is only a matter of time before that balance shifts. "AI will keep getting better and the day will come when AI will do all the things that we can do," he said.His confidence comes from a simple analogy: "We have a brain, the brain is a biological computer, so why can't a digital computer, a digital brain, do the same things? This is the one-sentence summary for why AI will be able to do all those things," he said.
Sutskever called AI's current capabilities "evocative". He says, AI right now is strong enough to suggest vast possibilities, but still not close to reaching its full potential. He suggested that a true breakthrough into superintelligence is more a matter of when than if. "Three, five, maybe ten years" was his rough estimate.What comes next, he admitted, raises dramatic questions: what will humans do when machines can do it all?advertisementSutskever pointed to potential outcomes like faster scientific discovery, economic growth, and extreme automation, leading to a phase where "the rate of progress will become really extremely fast for some time at least."Still, he stressed that this AI-driven future is inescapable. Sutskever says: "Whether you like it or not, your life is going to be affected by AI to a great extent."The speech was not all about machines. Like most convocation speakers, Sutskever also offered advice to the graduating class. He encouraged them to embrace reality as it is, rather than dwell on past mistakes. "It's so easy to think, 'Oh, some bad past decision or bad stroke of luck, something happened, something is unfair,'" he said. "It's so easy to spend so much time thinking like this while it's just so much better and more productive to say, 'Okay, things are the way they are, what's the next best step?'"That advice carried extra weight given his own history. In late 2023, Sutskever played a key role in the surprise ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He was part of the board that claimed it had lost confidence in Altman's leadership. But just days later, Sutskever publicly expressed regret for his involvement. "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions," he posted on X, adding, "I never intended to harm OpenAI." He later joined hundreds of OpenAI staff in calling for Altman's reinstatement. Altman returned as CEO within the week. Sutskever left the company six months later to start a new research lab focused on building what he called "safe superintelligence."advertisementReturning to his alma mater to accept an honorary doctorate, Sutskever framed this moment in history as exceptional – not just for those in AI, but for everyone. "We all live in the most unusual time ever," he said. "And this is something that people might say often, but I think it's actually true this time. And the reason it's true this time is because of AI." He noted that AI is already changing what it means to be a student, and its effect on work and daily life is just beginning to unfold in "unknown and unpredictable ways." Instead of digging into technical detail, Sutskever leaned on intuition. "Anything which I can learn, anything which any one of you can learn, the AI could do as well," he said. His message to graduates was both a warning and a call to action: The future may be uncertain, but it's coming fast, and AI will be at the centre of it.