Vinod Khosla says
In AI’s fast-paced world, Vinod Khosla warned that AI would pick up most of the jobs in the coming years. While the AI pose a risk, he advises students to focus on broad areas only when they become a specialist.
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In short
- Vinod Khosla predicts that AI will automate 80 percent jobs in the next five years
- He advises young founders to have problems like bold, dreams, not safe thoughts
- Khosla sees that AI handles special tasks better
Billionaire Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla has never been shy with bold predictions, and recently in a conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, he gave a lot. Speaking on Kamath’s WTF podcast, the Silicon Valley veteran shared his views on AI’s future, and why could they be the next generation students, who thought they felt that they knew about career.
Khosla did not sugarcane the disintegration that is ahead. He predicted that in the next five years, AI could take more than 80 percent of the existing jobs. While it seems worrying, he insisted that technology will create opportunities in the ways which are difficult to imagine today. This is not the only time he has talked about it.
A month ago, in another podcast, Khosla said the same figure about the future. The report said, “Within the next five years, any economically valuable job can be done by humans, 80 percent of all jobs can be 80 percent of an AI.” He also explained that by 2040, “the need to work will go away. People will work on things because they want, not because they need to pay their mortgage,” as quoted by Fortune.
Khosla’s comments come at a time when Tech giants are announcing job cuts after day. While these companies call it a “workforce restructuring”, it is quite clear that AI automation is a real criminal here. The most recent here is a recurrence of the trimming.
Coming back to the recent interview with Zeroda’s CEO, Khosla said, “This is one of the biggest infections that humanity has ever seen.” He said, “Most of the jobs you are watching today will be automated, but there will be a lot of new things to do.”
But this time, it was not just a warning. There is also some advice.
Their top advice to young founders?
For the dreamers of launching a start-up in the midst of this disruption, Khosla was freshly blunt. “Choose a problem worth solving,” he said. Do not waste years by chasing safe, incremental ideas. “Most people try to do something that looks like a business,” he said. “I say that looks like a dream.”
He explained that in an era where AI would make execution easy, the real value would be a lie in thinking daringly.
In the AI world, Khosla believes that pendulum swings firmly in favor of generalists. When Kamath asked him whether students should be an expert or wider, he said, “Be a generalist. AI narrow, expert goods are going to do better than you.”
Khosla’s approach, curiosity and ability to adapt will be the true career superpower of the coming decade.
Free education and healthcare in a post-AI world
Khosla also made a radical prediction: In the next 25 years, AI will make healthcare and education so cheap that they would become effectively independent.
“Imagine a world where you have free medical advice that is best as a doctor, and a free education that is best as a teacher,” he said. “This AI can be possible.” For him, this is where real optimism lies. AI is not only about efficiency or place of jobs; It is about enabling things that were first impossible for billions of people.
Kamath then asked a question that dreams of many students, will an independent Stanford level education ever be within reach? Khosla smilingly said, “It will not be a Stanford Institution, but it will be available to anyone with Stanford-Currency Education, Free, Internet connection.”
He argued that big language models and AI tutors would one day be able to personalize learning for every student in the world, whether they live in Mumbai, Manchester or a small village in Sub-Sahara Africa.
AI: Bad news for big cities, good news for small cities?
Asked about the long -term effects of artificial intelligence on where people live and work, Khosla said that AI has helped decentralizing the opportunity. For decades, cities such as San Francisco, New York and London have focused power, talent and resources. He is going to change. “AI allows us to spread opportunities beyond big cities,” he told Kamath. “Small cities that did not have access to equal networks or education will benefit on a large scale. The need to stay close to the opportunities is going to be removed.”
In short, AI can be a great equalizer if the society wisely handles the infection.
Khosla’s vision is a radical change from the present. Yes, AI can disrupt jobs and redefine industries, but he sees it as an unprecedented opportunity for small cities, bold thinkers and people who are ready to be curious.
“AI is the device,” he concluded. “What we do with it, it is completely above us.”
