AI Industry Leaders Show Their Cards
The people shaping AI's future are talking. We need to listen, because there is remarkable alignment.
OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei gave, through blogs and podcasts, a glimpse of where AI is headed. (Anthropic’s chatbot is the ChatGPT competitor Claude.)
This may seem like science fiction - agents? AGI? Superintelligence? All coming in the next couple of years??
Think about where you were a couple of years ago. It’s not that long ago, friends.
We’re going to break down five statements made by these leaders that you need to hear - what it means for tech and what it means for you.
But let’s start with a quick set of definitions:
AI Agents: Software programs that perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals.
AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): AI that can perform an intellectual task at the level of a human.
Superintelligence: AI that surpasses human intelligence and capability in virtually all domains.
Okay, with that in mind - let’s dive into this.
FIVE STATEMENTS THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING:
1. "We are now confident we know how to build AGI" - Sam Altman
Not "we might." Not "we're getting closer."
Rather: "We know how."
This isn't some random startup founder trying to raise money. This is the CEO of OpenAI, the company that brought us ChatGPT and transformed the world in two years flat.
Similar statements are coming out from others who work at OpenAI. This is no longer theoretical. We’re on the cusp of AI that can essentially work at the level of humans across domains.2. "AI agents may join the workforce in 2025" - Sam Altman & Dario Amodei
Both leaders are saying the same thing: AI isn't just coming to help you work.
It's coming to work alongside you. As a colleague.
What does that look like? Because the term is kinda scary for the layperson. Realistically, these are not things that are taking anyone’s jobs right now. We have to train and monitor these agents, and their tasks are extremely narrow.
But we have to keep our eyes open, because this is now an inevitability.
2. "AI systems could compress decades of progress into years" - Dario Amodei
We're not talking about incremental improvements, or saving a few hours in our day.
We're talking about fundamental shifts in how fast humanity can innovate.
This changes how every industry, every job, every company will operate in the mid term and certainly the long term.
3. "The next paradigm of models can do complex reasoning" - Sam Altman
Complex reasoning is allowing these models to take a breath and think through how to really work logically through problems at an incredibly high level. Like, PhD level stuff. What we’ve seen will soon look quaint.
The next wave is arriving, and it's exponentially more capable.
4. "These systems will work at 10-100x human speed" - Dario Amodei
Not twice as fast. Not five times as fast.
Up to one hundred times faster than humans. There is no realistic way to slow this down.
But importantly - we can look at this with fear or excitement.
I’m here for the latter. We can do this together.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU:
Let's get practical. Here's a simple framework for staying ahead:
THE WAVE FRAMEWORK:
Watch - Adapt - Verify - Evolve
WATCH
Follow the leaders making these predictions, pay attention to their product releases, but don’t get overwhelmed - the tech will move faster than we will.
Follow people you trust. I post on LinkedIn daily, but there are a ton of others who do - listen to how they break down the tech.
Monitor how your industry starts adopting these tools
ADAPT
Start your education journey NOW. We have a course, Generative AI for Professionals, tailored to enterprise or individuals. The best weapon here is understanding the systems.
Once you get these frameworks through education, start applying them.
The real exciting part about learning frameworks? Being able to teach those around you. You can work together.
VERIFY
It will be easy to get overwhelmed. Don’t worry. You don’t need to test every tool. Start with the basics - ChatGPT, or maybe Copilot if you organization has it.
Start applying these tools to your workday tasks. Don’t worry about what AI can do- keep focused on what YOU do.
Keep track of what works and what doesn’t.
EVOLVE
Regularly reassess your workflow. The best thing you can do is start chaining together your tasks - keep testing AI with each task to see how it works.
Identify tasks that new AI capabilities could enhance - when you hear about a new system, give it a try. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming, this is just to test it.
Be ready to pivot as the technology advances
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
The pace of change isn't linear - it's exponential. What worked yesterday might not be enough tomorrow.
But don’t let that scare you - behavioral change will be slow, it will take time, and you still have the opportunity to be the expert in the field.
Get educated! The only way to master these things is through frameworks and learning how to adapt. You can do this. (I’ve got a course just for it!)
Remember: The goal isn't to predict the future perfectly, and it’s not to stay on top of every new release. It's to get educated and systematically start using AI with your various tasks. It starts with baby steps!
And also - let’s keep one eye on the news. Industry leaders are telling us that the future is arriving faster than anyone expected.
Stay curious, friends. The future is going to be wild.
