SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says that, in his opinion, artificial general intelligence (AGI) will be implemented in almost all industries over the next 10 years, which will surpass human capabilities in terms of mental development.
The corresponding statement was made by the head of this Japanese corporation during a speech at the SoftBank Global Corporate Conference. In his opinion, AGI will be ten times smarter than total human intelligence. Masayoshi Son also stated that there is rapid progress in the sphere of generative artificial intelligence. According to him, the advanced technology of digital thinking in some spheres has already achieved superiority over the human mind.
The head of the corporation does not agree with the point of view that artificial intelligence cannot be smarter than people, because they created it. According to Masayoshi Son, this statement is not consistent due to the fact that AI is self-learning, capable of independent preparation, and able to draw conclusions.
The head of the corporation devoted part of his speech to reasoning on the topic of the potential of AGI, actively using the term singularity, in the philosophical paradigm of studying and describing the surrounding space, meaning the uniqueness of a being, event, and phenomenon. He is convinced that advanced technology in the mentioned form of existence will transform the business space and will have a similar impact on society.
Also during the speech, Masayoshi Son presented the idea of artificial superintelligence. In his opinion, this form of digital thinking will be realized in 20 years. The head of the corporation believes that this configuration of artificial intelligence will surpass the capabilities of the human mind 10,000 times.
Masayoshi Son is known for his penchant for various experimental solutions and his interest in innovation. Thanks to his approach, SoftBank has become a giant of technology investments. The implementation of some initiatives has not led to success, but such failures are natural for innovative experimentation since this is a space of the completely or partially unknown.
The head of the corporation is also a supporter of the beliefs about the transformative effects of new-generation technologies. His predictions about the development of the mobile Internet were largely confirmed by reality. At the same time, his vision of the future of the Internet of Things turned out to be wrong.
Masayoshi Son urges Japanese companies to realize the prospects of artificial intelligence. He argues that this country is increasingly lagging behind the pace of development characteristic of the Internet era. According to him, Japan has largely missed the initial wave of growth caused by the expansion of the Internet space. He noted that currently in this country, more than 70% of companies either prohibit or are considering making an appropriate decision regarding the possibility of using generative artificial intelligence. In his opinion, in the current realities, such a ban is equivalent to potential situations in which a person does not have the right to drive a car or is forced to give up electricity.
Masayoshi Son has been avoiding public appearances for some time after what he described as a crisis of confidence triggered by mounting losses at SoftBank’s flagship Vision fund. The surge of interest in artificial intelligence after the presentation of the chatbot ChatGPT, created by OpenAI, and the initial public offering of shares of chip developer Arm Holdings somewhat improved his mood.
The Vision Foundation has directed multibillion-dollar investments into hundreds of startups. In the last financial year, this structural unit of SoftBank lost more than $30 billion and switched to the so-called defensive mode, which provides for a minimum of activity. Currently, the corporation is preparing to resume efforts in this area, with more than $40 billion in cash.
During his speech, Masayoshi Son demonstrated a presentation that began with an illustration of a goldfish in an aquarium, which, in his opinion, in a symbolic and conditional sense, people who refuse to use artificial intelligence are likened to.
The head of the corporation declared his faith in the developer of Arm chips as the core of the machine intelligence revolution.
Arm CEO Rene Haas, during a speech at the aforementioned conference via video call, stated about the energy efficiency of the company’s products. He also believes that the demand for brand developments to power artificial intelligence will grow.
Masayoshi Son stated that he is the only person who believes that the implementation of AGI will come within ten years. Rene Hass believes that this will happen during his lifetime, but did not specify the timescales of the appearance of advanced technology.
Masayoshi Son says that SoftBank is actively implementing artificial intelligence. The corporation is currently cooperating with Microsoft in a joint effort to promote OpenAI services in Japan. SoftBank is also working on its own chatbot based on machine intelligence in Japanese.
The corporation has an influence on the PayPal payment unit, the messaging apps line, and the Yahoo Japan search engine.
As we have reported earlier, Softbank Invests in AI Company Tractable.
