Ken Griffin speaks with interns from Citadel and Citadel Securities during a discussion moderated by Citadel software engineer and former intern Bharath Jaladi.
Courtesy: Citadel
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, said he remains skeptical that artificial intelligence could make human jobs obsolete anytime soon, as he sees shortcomings in machine learning models applied in certain scenarios.
“We are at what is widely seen as a real turning point in the evolution of technology, with the rise of large language models. Some are convinced that within three years almost everything we do as humans will be done by LLMs in some form or another. and other AI tools,” Griffin said Friday at an event for Citadel’s new class of interns in New York. “For a number of reasons, I am not convinced that these models will make such a breakthrough in the near future.”
The rapid rise of AI has made the world reflect on its far-reaching impact on society, including technology-induced job losses. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is one of many who have repeatedly warned about the threats AI poses to humanity. He has called AI “more dangerous” than nuclear weapons and says there will come a point where “a job is no longer needed.”
Griffin, whose hedge fund and electronic market maker are at the forefront of automation, says machine learning tools have their limits when it comes to adapting to change.
“Machine learning models don’t do well in a world where regimes are changing. Self-driving cars don’t work well in the north because of the snow. When the terrain changes, they have no idea what to do,” says Griffin. “Machine learning models perform much better when there is consistency.”
Still, the billionaire investor believes the long-term power of advanced technology cannot be ignored, and he even sees it as one day eradicating cancer.
“The advent of computing power allows us to solve all kinds of problems that simply weren’t solvable five, 10, 15 years ago,” says Griffin. “This is going to revolutionize health care. We will end cancer as you know it in your lifetime.”
Citadel has long placed great emphasis on hiring and does not hesitate to put the responsibility in the hands of young employees and even interns, the CEO said.
The company’s internship program has become one of the most competitive in the country. More than 85,000 students applied for approximately 300 vacancies this year, representing an acceptance rate of less than 0.5%, which is lower than that of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The people we hire today will not be the leaders of Citadel in 30 or 40 years, but in just a few years,” Griffin said.