Davos/New Delhi:
The five-day meeting in Davos starting Monday will consider how to restart growth, harness new technologies and strengthen social and economic sustainability, according to the World Economic Forum. Around 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, including 350 government leaders, will attend the global meeting.
NDTV spoke to Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard, SimpliAI’s Abhishek Awadhiya and Avanti Fellows founder Akshay Saxena – people who have a real say in where it’s all going.
It’s been a year of real crisis around the world, be it conflict, concerns about sustainable development and concerns about so many issues, not least the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and climate.
Nuclear fusion energy
Mr. Mumgaard began by giving an overview of the future of nuclear power plants in terms of fusion energy and safe operation.
“It’s completely different from existing nuclear power. It’s the opposite. In fusion, you’re combining light elements to make them heavier in the same way the Sun works. That means there’s no fusion, no related to weapons and not long. – Lived nuclear waste,” said Mr. Mumgaard, who is dealing with one of the most interesting aspects of clean energy.
“The thing right now is that we still have to develop the technology and deploy it. We’re building on the first power plants right now. Right now, we’re about halfway through building the first prototype outside of Boston,” he said. NDTV.
Mumgaard said his company came out of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
“We started about three years ago building this machine. In about two years, we will fire up the machine, and this will be an important point in the world where we will have, for the first time, fusion on an industrial scale. power that is created by people,” said the CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
On the issue of cost, which will be a key factor in clean energy production, Mumgaard said the goal with all new sustainable energy is to produce energy in a way that the world can grow, meaning it should be low cost.
“And one of the great things about technologies like fusion is that you’re using all these other technologies that came before, you’re adding to them. And so you’re getting the cost advantages that came from new ways of manufacturing “We’re getting cost advantages that come from simulation and using AI and fusion itself. And so we think that could lead to a low-cost energy source that’s what we’re working on right now,” he added.
Artificial Intelligence and Disruption in the Workplace
SimpliAI’s Abhishek Awadhiya said he strongly believes that AI will work in conjunction with humanity and the workforce to increase productivity.
“A lot of our work is — while focused on automation at SimpliAI — we strongly believe that in the near term, all of these AI tools will increase workforce productivity across all functions and roles. It’s very important to all players. to really make that argument very clear, very succinct to people in general, so that the fear factor around AI is replaced with positivity and hope,” Mr Awadhiya said.
On jobs disappearing due to artificial intelligence in the workplace, he said: “Well, as the World Economic Forum’s own report says, while there will be about 90 million jobs that will be replaced by 2030 , but another 170 million will be created. So, in my mind, it’s like what happened in the Industrial Revolution, jobs that are repetitive, low-value, high-value Jobs are being displaced in the value chain to people and to me, that is what will unlock productivity for humanity at large.
The Future of Education and AI
Avanti Fellows founder Akshay Saxena cautioned against going too fast with AI in education.
“I think there are some things to be really careful about, especially when you look at it in the context of a country like India, where we already have massive inequality that’s growing. One is, as Abhishek said, that the nature of work is going to change, which means you’ll have to work almost with an AI co-pilot alongside,” Saxena said.
“What are our schools doing to equip kids to do that? And how many kids are even exposed to that? Because most kids in India don’t even have their own cellphones, or internet access in any meaningful way . And what does that mean for our colleges, because India has the largest engineering workforce we produce, but also among the least employable engineering workforce. “So how do we quickly remodel our engineering schools, schools techniques to make graduates ready for AI? And if you don’t move fast on these fronts, it could be quite disastrous for India’s youth.”
In Davos, India’s participation aims to strengthen partnerships, attract investment and position the country as a global leader in sustainable development and technological innovation. India is sending five Union ministers, three prime ministers and ministers from several other states to the WEF this time.
