The CEO of Baidu, a Chinese multinational tech company Robin Li, has said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become smarter than humans in 10 years.
Li’s comment is in contrast to that of Tesla CEO Elon Musk who said that AI will be smarter than humans in the next two years. He adds that a lot of people are impressed with the way advanced technology has been evolving in the past years.
He compares the current state of Al applications to the mobile app era, where apps like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok have hundreds of millions to billions of daily active users.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
He points out that no Al-native app has yet achieved such widespread adoption, positing that in the present age of modern technology, daily active users could hit one billion.
However, Li expressed concern that AI is not improving fast enough as he expects. He describes the progress as too slow.
In his words,
“My fear is that AI technology is not improving fast enough. Everyone’s shocked how fast the technology has evolved over the past couple of years. But to me, it’s still not fast enough. It’s too slow”.
LI’s company Baidu has been at the forefront of AI development in China. Last year, the company launched its ChatGPT-style chatbot, Ernie, based on its large language model.
In less than a year, the chatbot amassed a staggering 100 million users in China, marking a significant milestone in AI development and deployment.
Li emphasized the importance of real-world applications and user feedback in advancing Ernie Bot. “With the massive valuable, real-world human feedback we are receiving, we can continuously improve our foundational model, Ernie, and bring more innovation to Ernie Bot,” he stated.
This focus on user interaction and real-world data integration has given Ernie Bot an edge in understanding and responding to a wide range of queries and tasks. From simple informational requests to more complex problem-solving scenarios, Ernie Bot demonstrates a level of sophistication and nuance that has captured the attention of the global tech community.
While there are predictions that AI will become smarter than humans in the coming years, several analysts have argued that despite the remarkable abilities of the advanced technology, it is not a replacement for human intelligence and understanding.
They posit that humans make nuanced decisions by applying critical thinking and employing complex emotions. Yet by harnessing Al as an innovative tool, humans can ignite their imaginations, inspire new solutions to old problems, and ultimately build a better world.