University of California executive warns of AI’s risk to higher education
Jagdeep Singh Bachher, the University of California’s chief investment officer, warned last week that artificial intelligence poses the “biggest question of our lifetime” and noted that the technology is “actually a risk,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“The biggest thing that is a surprise to me and the team in the last 60 days is how fast we’re all waking up to realize that AI is actually a risk,” Bachher said at a UC board of regents meeting. “We need to start figuring out, what does the future of every one of our 300,000 students at the University of California look like? That in my humble opinion is probably the biggest question of our lifetime. And you don’t have six years to figure it out. You need to figure that out sooner than later because things are moving at a pace that are alarming to us on a day-to-day basis.”
The university leader said AI also presents great opportunity that universities shouldn’t miss out on, even if the technology turns out to be a bubble.
“We’re not managing this money for a year or two,” but as long as thirty years, he said. “I fully expect even if there is a correction of some sort and things come down in value, having the patience to be able to ride this out over the long run is what is important.”
