A Conversation with Satya Nadella and Klaus Schwab

Arguments

Klaus Schwab expresses his interest and hope in technology advancement

Supporting facts:

• Klaus Schwab says his heart is an engineer’s heart signifying his interest in technological innovation.

• He mentions the creation of the Global Collaboration Village as a positive step towards democratizing the World Economic Forum.

• He appreciates the rapid growth of Generative AI, referring to it moving from a ‘young baby’ to a ‘teenager’ in less than a year.

Topics: Tech Advancement, Generative AI, Global Collaboration Village, Metaverse

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Klaus Schwab acknowledges and appreciates the role of Microsoft as a leading tech company

Supporting facts:

• Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is identified as the leader of a leading tech company.

• Schwab anticipates that Nadella will provide insightful information about the evolving tech landscape.

Topics: Microsoft, Tech Leadership

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Klaus Schwab acknowledges and appreciates the cooperative relationship with Accenture

Supporting facts:

• He expresses his gratitude for the cooperation with Accenture, indicating a collaborative relationship.

Topics: Accenture, Partnership, Collaboration

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Concerned about the potential for a new divide or tension between developed and less developed countries due to digital technology advancements

Supporting facts:

• Had discussions with heads of government and state about this potential divide

• Particularly worried about less developed countries

Topics: Digital Technology, Underdeveloped Countries, Global Divide

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Fast speed of technology leads to fear and pessimism

Supporting facts:

• The rate of technological change is increasing leading to fear and concern in society

• This fear is contributing to the polarization of opinions and perspectives

Topics: technology advancement, public opinion, trust rebuilding

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It is essential to develop global regulations for the technology industry

Supporting facts:

• Europe and the US currently have different approaches

• Chinese premiers showed commitment to a global regulatory approach

Topics: Global Regulations, Technology Industry

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The current fragmented situation is challenging for developing global regulations

Topics: Global Regulations, Technology Industry

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Klaus Schwab concerned about the understanding of AI technology among politicians

Supporting facts:

• Klaus Schwab, as an engineer, struggles to comprehend new forms of AI

• He experienced a learning curve with the chat GPT

• Expressed uncertainty about the capability of politicians to comprehend and regulate AI effectively

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Politics, Regulation

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Artificial intelligence’s high energy consumption could lead to environmental unsustainability

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Energy Consumption, Environmental Sustainability

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The capability to think conceptually has become much more important

Topics: Paradigm shifts, technology

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We have transitioned from an agricultural to an industrial age, then to a service-dominated economy and now to an intelligent economy

Topics: Economic Transition, Intelligent Economy, Service-Dominated Economy

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we should take technology in the context of our theme of the annual meeting

Topics: technology, annual meeting

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Report

Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, expresses his keen interest and hope in technological advancement. He mentions his passion for technological innovation, referring to it as an engineer’s heart. Schwab appreciates the steps taken to democratise the World Economic Forum, particularly mentioning the creation of the Global Collaboration Village.

This virtual forum allows people who are unable to physically attend the forum to participate, widening public engagement. Schwab acknowledges the significant role played by Microsoft as a leading tech company. He identifies Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, as a prominent leader in the industry.

Schwab anticipates that Nadella will provide valuable insights and perspectives on the evolving tech landscape. The collaborative relationship with Accenture is highly valued by Schwab. He expresses gratitude for their cooperation, highlighting the importance of partnership and collaboration in driving positive change.

Schwab believes that virtual forums, like the Global Collaboration Village, have immense potential in widening public participation and engagement. He mentions a discussion held two years ago about democratizing the World Economic Forum, allowing individuals who cannot physically attend to actively partake in the event.

The Global Collaboration Village, a three-dimensional virtual room, is seen as a solution to this challenge. Schwab notes that partners and international organisations are already established in the virtual village, engaging with the public. One of Schwab’s concerns is the potential digital divide between developed and less developed countries due to technological advancements.

He had discussions with heads of government and state regarding this issue and expresses particular worry about less developed countries. The fast rate of technological change is also a cause for concern for Schwab. He observes that this rapid pace leads to fear and concern in society, contributing to the polarisation of opinions and perspectives.

To ensure a better future, Schwab emphasises the importance of harnessing technology and rebuilding trust. He highlights trust building as a crucial aspect of his opening speech and discusses the negative impacts that rapid technological progress could have. The development of global regulations for the technology industry is deemed essential by Schwab.

He notes that Europe and the US currently have different approaches, while Chinese premiers have shown commitment to a global regulatory approach. Schwab suggests the need for an international organisation similar to COP or the International Energy Agency specifically for the technology industry.

Schwab expresses concern about the understanding of AI technology among politicians. As an engineer, he admits struggling to comprehend new forms of AI and mentions the learning curve he experienced with the chat GPT. He questions the ability of politicians to fully understand and effectively regulate AI.

Another issue raised by Schwab is the high energy consumption of artificial intelligence. He warns that this could lead to environmental unsustainability and poses a challenge to achieving goals related to affordable and clean energy and climate action. Schwab questions the potential impact of emerging technologies on economic productivity and global prosperity, drawing from past disappointment with the internet’s impact on productivity.

While there is optimism about future technologies such as the energy transition and AI, Schwab remains cautious. Schwab acknowledges that the capability to think conceptually has become increasingly important. He notes the increased complexity resulting from widening conceptual horizons and the ongoing transition from an agricultural to an industrial age, then to a service-dominated economy, and now to an intelligent economy.

He suggests that the transition to an intelligent economy is happening at a much faster pace than previous economic shifts. In conclusion, Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, expresses his interest and hope in technological advancement. He appreciates the steps taken to democratise the forum and acknowledges the contributions of leading tech companies like Microsoft.

Schwab emphasises the importance of virtual forums in widening public participation and engagement. He raises concerns about the potential digital divide, fear and polarisation caused by rapid technological change, and the need to harness technology and rebuild trust for a better future.

Schwab advocates for global regulations in the technology industry and highlights the importance of understanding AI among politicians. He warns against the high energy consumption of artificial intelligence and questions the impact of emerging technologies on economic productivity. Lastly, he notes the increasing importance of conceptual thinking and the transition to an intelligent economy.

Arguments

Satya Nadella is impressed with the rate of diffusion of generative AI across countries and industries

Supporting facts:

• ChatGPT, a generative model, had a significant impact, showing the potential of AI

Topics: Generative AI, Diffusion, Industries

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Nadella believes that the era of ‘intelligence at your fingertips’ is definitely here

Supporting facts:

• Copilot has been launched for broad horizontal work and frontline work and even in healthcare

Topics: AI, Intelligence, Information

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AI will revolutionize science

Supporting facts:

• A Microsoft model, Matagen, has been used to generate new molecules and material, which resulted in a new battery that uses 70% less lithium

• AI applications at the Broad Institute and Project for the Advancement of Genome Editing (PAGE) are being used for molecular biology and cancer detection

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Science

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Satya Nadella believes that for technological progress, we need more core compute infrastructure.

Supporting facts:

• He mentioned the von Neumann machine which still rules the world and the potential birth of the new quantum revolution.

Topics: Technology, Computing infrastructure

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Nadella is excited about the prospect of quantum revolution.

Supporting facts:

• AI could potentially act as the emulation layer for what is going to be the simulation layer, which is quantum.

Topics: Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence

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Nadella sees potential in the growth and development of mixed reality.

Supporting facts:

• Mentions devices like VR, AR, mixed reality, humanoid robots, or autonomous automobiles.

Topics: Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality

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Digital technology is a general purpose technology that can lead to better outcomes in various sectors like healthcare, education, etc.

Supporting facts:

• Satya Nadella observes the impact of digital technology across all sectors of the economy, leading to innovative and better ways of doing things

Topics: Digital technology, General purpose technology, Healthcare, Education

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Technologies should not create a divide.

Supporting facts:

• Discussion with heads of government and state on technology creating a new divide between North and South.

Topics: Global North & South, Technology divides, Digital transformation

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Technologies like GPT-4 can provide personal tutors and medical advice for everyone.

Supporting facts:

• GPT-4 has the potential to create a personal tutor for every student in the world.

• Better medical advice can be availed in the pockets of every person.

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Education, Healthcare

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The technology industry needs to consider the unintended consequences of new technologies before they materialize

Supporting facts:

• Satya Nadella mentioned that tech industry’s license to operate depends on considering safety, trust, equity along with benefits of new technologies

Topics: Technology Industry, Unintended Consequences, Digital Technology

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Tech industry is becoming more responsible and raising its standards on safety

Supporting facts:

• Satya Nadella talked about the substantial investment that OpenAI and they made on doing alignment and safety work before GPT-4 was released

Topics: Tech Industry, Safety Standards, Social Responsibility

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Government regulators worldwide are becoming more involved in setting safety and deployment norms for technologies

Supporting facts:

• Nadella mentioned executive orders in the US, safety summit in UK, and interests of European Union and China in the regulation of technology

Topics: Regulation, Government Norms, Technology Safety

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Developing global regulations for global challenges is very desirable

Supporting facts:

• Global challenges require global norms and global standards

• Without these, it would be difficult to contain, enforce, and advance core research

Topics: Global regulations, Global challenges

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The deployment of AI should be based on risk assessment in different issues

Supporting facts:

• Rigorous evaluations and safety measures are necessary before launching any new thing

• AI should be regulated as per its deployment area, be it healthcare or financial services

Topics: AI, Risk-based assessment, Deployment

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AI technology needs to be simple and governable with clear principles

Supporting facts:

• Computing history has been striving to find the most natural user interface so that computers understand us

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Technology Governance

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Regulation should be both at the application level and at the input level

Supporting facts:

• Deepfakes can disrupt the democratic process

• Bioterrorism is a present risk

• AI is a self-improving technology that can potentially get out of control if not properly regulated

Topics: Technology Regulation, Deepfakes, Bioterrorism

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The global power consumption of computing is currently about 2-3% and could potentially double

Supporting facts:

• The output of compute, particularly AI, is becoming more and more cost-efficient

• The most efficient form of production is being powered by energy transition initiatives

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Energy Consumption

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Satya Nadella believes that AI is the new input that could drive global economic growth

Supporting facts:

• There is currently no economic growth in the world. The developed world may have negative economic growth. Satya is optimistic about AI being that general purpose technology that drives economic growth.

• Even Robert Gordon acknowledged that PCs were the last time when actual economic growth came about and AI Technology can be seen in similar sense.

• In the co-pilot era, work and work artifacts and workflow are fundamentally going to change, which will lead to economic output and scientific acceleration.

Topics: Economic Growth, Artificial Intelligence, Productivity, Inflation

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AI can be instrumental in understanding difficult concepts and can aid in any field of study

Supporting facts:

• Nadella got to understand Maxwell’s equations better through a website using AI

• AI makes complex content more accessible and easier to comprehend

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Education, Learning

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Stakeholder capitalism is the soul of the World Economic Forum and the social contract for corporations, like Microsoft

Supporting facts:

• Microsoft’s license to operate in the world comes from finding profitable solutions to the challenges of people and planet

• Multi-stakeholderism is not a nice thing, investors should care about multiple stakeholders to get long-term returns

Topics: Stakeholder capitalism, World Economic Forum, Microsoft

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Leadership requires adaptation and continuous learning

Supporting facts:

• Satya has been at Microsoft for 32 years, having experienced major paradigm shifts in industry.

• He believes that being successful in new paradigms like AI requires a different understanding of risk, scale, and investment.

• Leadership in year two of any paradigm shift is different and learning from past shifts can be helpful.

Topics: Leadership, Adaptability, Learning

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Humility and confidence are necessary for effective leadership

Supporting facts:

• You can’t have hubris but you do need to have some confidence.

• Having experienced multiple paradigm shifts at Microsoft, Satya has gained confidence from past successes and holds humility to learn something new.

Topics: Leadership, Humility, Confidence

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Learning from what is happening around the world is another conceptual understanding that we can all take

Supporting facts:

• The world has seen various recessions and economic crisis in different countries over the years which provide learning opportunities.

Topics: Globalization, Crisis Management, Continuous Learning

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We are transitioning from service-dominated economy to an intelligent economy

Supporting facts:

• We moved from agricultural to industrial age, then to a service-dominated economy, and now to an intelligent economy

Topics: Global Economy, Industrial Revolution, Digital Revolution

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Report

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, expresses his optimism regarding the impact of generative AI and its widespread adoption across different industries and countries. He believes that generative AI has the potential to revolutionise the field of software engineering and bring back joy to the profession.

Nadella is particularly impressed by the rate at which generative AI is diffusing, highlighting the significant impact that models like ChatGPT have had in revealing the potential of AI. Nadella also recognises the era of ‘intelligence at your fingertips,’ pointing to the launch of AI applications in various sectors, including healthcare.

This demonstrates the practical implementation of AI in enhancing frontline work, healthcare services, and broader horizontal work. He predicts that the development and adoption of AI will continue to accelerate, leading to significant advancements and positive outcomes across industries. In the field of education, Nadella is positive about the capabilities of generative AI.

He notes that the United Arab Emirates has successfully rolled out a personalised tutor for every student in the country, showcasing the potential of AI to improve and personalise the learning experience for students on a global scale. Furthermore, Nadella believes that AI will revolutionise the field of science.

He cites examples such as the use of Microsoft’s model, Matagen, to generate new molecules and materials, resulting in the creation of a battery that uses 70% less lithium. Additionally, AI applications are being utilised in molecular biology and cancer detection at institutions like the Broad Institute and the Project for the Advancement of Genome Editing (PAGE).

Nadella envisions AI playing a pivotal role in accelerating advancements in these areas, potentially compressing centuries of chemistry into just a few decades. Nadella also expresses enthusiasm about the quantum revolution and the growth of mixed reality. He highlights the potential of AI to act as the emulation layer for what will become the simulation layer in the future, specifically in relation to quantum computing.

Moreover, Nadella sees significant potential in the development and application of mixed reality technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality devices, as well as the convergence of compute, AI, and autonomous and mixed reality devices. He believes that these elements will collaborate to create new innovative platforms.

Acknowledging the transformative impact of digital technology across sectors like healthcare and education, Nadella observes how it has led to innovative and improved ways of conducting various activities. He emphasises that digital technology is a general-purpose technology that can yield better outcomes in multiple sectors, addressing challenges and fostering progress.

Nadella also underscores the importance of responsible technology governance. He believes that the technology industry’s licence to operate depends on being proactive in considering safety, trust, equity, and the potential unintended consequences of new technologies. Government regulators worldwide are also becoming more involved in setting safety and deployment norms for technologies, reflecting a growing global focus on technology regulation and safety standards.

Furthermore, Nadella recognises the need for stakeholder capitalism, asserting that finding profitable solutions to people and environmental challenges is essential for the long-term success of corporations. He believes that corporations should aim to serve all stakeholders and not solely focus on investor returns.

This approach aligns with the social contract for corporations and the principles of the World Economic Forum. Nadella emphasises the importance of leadership adaptability and continuous learning in navigating paradigm shifts and driving innovation. Drawing from his own experiences at Microsoft, he highlights the need for leadership to strike a balance between embracing new technologies and sustaining existing operations.

Nadella also acknowledges the value of global learning, encouraging businesses to study and learn from economic recessions and crises in different countries to develop a global perspective and improve crisis management. In conclusion, Satya Nadella’s views on generative AI, technological innovation, responsible governance, stakeholder capitalism, and leadership reflect his belief in the potential of AI and its ability to drive economic growth, enhance various sectors, tackle global challenges, and create a more inclusive and abundant world.