AI CEOs Should Stop Gaslighting Students With LLMs
While AI experts, such as Yann LeCun, advise students against focusing on LLMs, some AI company CEOs hold the opposite view. Recently, Bindu Reddy, the CEO of Abacus AI, posted on X about how not learning LLMs would make people obsolete. What’s worse? The post was about Reddy  “politely” telling a teenager that if they do not use LLMs, they are going to be obsolete in the future. “Am I being rude or giving them good advice?” asked Reddy. Many people live in the AI bubble. Even though LLMs have brought AI to the forefront, LLMs are not the only AI kind or career choice. Alexander Chukovski, a senior AI advisor, calls out Reddy’s post as “ultimate top of generative AI cycle”. What Would Be Obsolete? “I want to be extremely clear on this – such behaviour from tech leaders in the AI startup space is unacceptable,” emphasised Chukovski. The assertion that failing to adopt these technologies could render people obsolete may place unnecessary pressure and anxiety on young individuals, distorting their educational priorities. “Give these kids a break,” he added. This perspective might compel children to focus excessively on a current technology, which is LLMs currently, potentially neglecting the development of other essential skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and interpersonal communication. Who knows, even the hype around LLMs might die out soon, just like it happened with blockchain. Additionally, stressing the importance of advanced technological tools could exacerbate existing inequalities. Not all children have equal access to these technologies, and instilling a fear of becoming outdated could alienate those without the necessary resources. Much of this is to create hype around the products that the companies are selling. “They [teenagers] don’t need some SV grifters to stress them more just to sell subscriptions to a SaaS,” added Chukovski. On similar lines, people question if in-turn LLMs would be obsolete. “The technology is improving at a pace where in the next few years AI prompts writing and usage skills will become obsolete,” said a user. “By the time those teens get into adulthood, it will be the present-day LLM startups that become obsolete,” said another user. “I’d put my money on the kid. LLMs most certainly will be obsolete in the future. That’s guaranteed,” said a user on X, while also criticising the narrative started by CEOs who discourage people just to create hype around generative AI. Are LLMs Making People Obsolete? While some of the things that Reddy said are true. There are certain scenarios where people who are not upskilling themselves with generative AI are getting replaced by a person who knows AI. The trend for scaring people who do not learn generative AI started with Mark Cuban making the prediction that people who don’t learn generative AI would become dinosaurs. If teenagers rely on LLMs merely for quick answers without delving into the underlying principles, they risk becoming dependent and missing out on deeper learning. Instead, we should encourage them to use LLMs as tools for growth—by exploring, asking questions, and truly comprehending the material. “I’ve graded homework from students who use LLMs as a crutch. The ones that put in the mental leg work are the only ones that stand a chance in the future. It’s a tool, not a substitute for learning,” explained a user on X. On the flip side, it is important for teenagers to leverage the essential skills for them to use in the future. By the time the teenagers reach the stage of working on LLMs in their work, LLMs would be an integral part of the systems. If all a teenager does is learn how to prompt systems, they would become obsolete for sure. Moreover, there would be so many jobs in the future that would not require the use of LLMs. Some people even claim that LLMs are not that impressive. It is almost like saying that people who did not learn Python are obsolete in today’s world, which is definitely not the case. Almost a year ago, companies were hiring for prompt engineering roles and it was the job of the future. But it is not definitely out of the job market. Everyone knows how to use LLMs. As LeCun explained, “The only way you could possibly contribute is by analysing existing LLMs and showing their power and limitations.” This is what the current teenagers should focus on — to understand LLMs and their limitations, and move beyond them.
“By the time those teens get into adulthood, it will be the present-day LLM startups that become obsolete.”
Recently, Bindu Reddy, the CEO of Abacus AI, posted on X about how not learning LLMs would make people obsolete.
["Chief AI Officer (CAIO)", "Large Language models"]
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["AI", "generative AI", "Aim", "RAG", "prompt engineering", "Python", "R", "Go", "ViT", "startup"]
Mohit writes about AI in simple, explainable, and often funny words. He's especially passionate about chatting with those building AI for Bharat, with the occasional detour into AGI.