Why I Am Bullish On AI

Before ChatGPT was released in late 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) was largely seen as a futuristic concept by most people, something we mostly saw in sci-fi movies. But since ChatGPT’s arrival, the tables have turned. Now, AI is rapidly evolving from being a futuristic concept or buzzword for techies/nerds to a technology that actually impacts the lives of people in a tangible and accessible way.

Today, I use ChatGPT (and similar products like Claude, Google Gemini, MidJourney, etc.) to do a wide range of daily tasks — from composing emails and brainstorming ideas to building software and learning about complex topics. Tbh, ChatGPT has really saved my ass many times, sometimes I wonder what life was without this “magic wand” (😆). What’s more interesting is that even my Dad (and anyone really) can easily use this technology to just do stuff.

To some, this technology seems like another hype train (remember the web3 and metaverse hype train in 2021?). But to me, AI represents something much deeper — it’s a genuine opportunity to amplify human potential and solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Considering the rapid breakthroughs in AI research, pace of innovation, and massive investments in the field, it’s hard to not be bullish on AI. I think technologies like ChatGPT are barely scratching the surface because the potential impacts of AI will be so far-reaching. From self-driving cars to personalized medicine and education, I believe this technology will have a transformative impact on a lot of fields in very surprising ways.

One aspect of AI that I’m particularly bullish on is AI for Science. AI’s ability to uncover patterns in complex datasets, and tackle problems previously deemed unsolvable has the potential to revolutionize fields like drug discovery, climate modeling, neuroscience, molecular biology, epidemiology, materials science, etc. Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold is a prime example of how AI can revolutionize scientific discovery and innovation. With the help of AlphaFold, scientists can now identify and characterize proteins for applications like drug design in a few months, a task that previously took years (The Nobel Prize ^[1] was really well deserved 🙇🏿)

Another aspect of AI that I’m particularly bullish on is Agentic AI. The ability of AI agents to autonomously make decisions, adapt to dynamic environments, and execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention will open up disruptive possibilities in fields like robotics, logistics, and personal assistants. I also strongly believe that we will see a rise in Agentic AI-powered SaaS apps tailored to specific industries or functions like customer support, sales, content writing, etc.

Looking at the big picture, I strongly believe AI will become three things — an amplifier of human potential, a catalyst for innovation, and an equalizer of opportunities.

• As an amplifier of human potential, I believe AI will augment human capabilities in countless ways. Just like how ChatGPT automates mundane tasks like coding and content generation, freeing people to focus on more creative aspects of these tasks and life’s hurdles.

• As a catalyst for innovation, I believe AI will accelerate the pace of innovation across various sectors. An example that I really like to talk about is Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold, a tool designed to predict protein structures with high precision, significantly accelerating the drug design and development process.

• As an equalizer of opportunities, I believe AI has the potential to create a more equitable society by levelling the playing field in areas like education. For example, AI-powered tools can provide personalized learning experiences, making quality education accessible to students regardless of their location or socio-economic location.

Of course, AI is not yet perfect. There are still several challenges with bias, transparency, hallucinations, scalability, and ensuring responsible/ethical use. Addressing these issues to ensure that AI systems are fair, accountable, and beneficial for all is crucial to maximizing its potential. However, considering that AI is still in a relatively early stage of development, I believe these issues will be fully resolved with further decades of research.

Also, there are concerns from certain quarters about AI taking our jobs (lol). Well, I don’t intend to address this debate here. Maybe I’ll do that in another post.

In summary, I believe AI has the power to amplify human potential, catalyze innovation, create equal opportunities, unlock disruptive possibilities, solve global problems, and most importantly, create a brighter future for us all.

It’s an exciting time to be alive, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.