India, New Delhi: Vinod Khosla, a billionaire businessman and Indian-American venture capitalist, has boldly predicted that, in the next three to five years, artificial intelligence (AI) will replace up to 80% of jobs. Speaking on Nikhil Kamath’s ‘People by WTF’ podcast, where he co-founded Zerodha, Khosla called the impending shift one of the “biggest transitions humanity has ever seen.”
Khosla highlighted the enormous opportunities that this technological shift will bring, despite the prediction’s seeming alarming nature. He maintained that the current generation needs to put flexibility and a “mindset-first approach” ahead of in-depth specialization in a single field if they are to prosper in this new world.
Khosla’s main recommendation for aspiring professionals is to become “generalists” as opposed to “specialists.” The ability to “learn how to learn” and to think from “first principles” are the most valuable skills, he explained, because AI will be able to perform specific, limited tasks more effectively than humans. He urged young people to “optimize your career for flexibility, not a single profession,” be inquisitive, and be adaptable.
He also emphasized that human decisions that influence AI’s application will be the real differentiator for startups, not access to the technology. “Those who understand AI will be the first to replace those who don’t,” he continued.
Khosla presented a positive outlook on the future of AI, especially for India. Education, healthcare, legal, and financial services could all become almost free thanks to AI, he predicted. He claimed that “if every child in India has a free AI tutor…it’ll be better than the best education a rich person can offer.” He also imagined a time when AI would make medical knowledge more widely available, allowing a village in India to receive better cardiac care than someone could at a prestigious university like Stanford.
In his closing remarks, Khosla said that although AI is a potent instrument that has the potential to upend the economy, humans must ultimately decide how to use it and take advantage of the “abundance of opportunity” it offers to inquisitive individuals and daring thinkers.