Weekend Listen: The Godmother of AI, Fei-Fei Li

Stanford University Professor Fei-Fei Li has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence research for 25 years, which is why she’s been called the “godmother of AI.” In this conversation she tells Mishal Husain how she arrived in the US as a teenager after her parents decided to emigrate from China. She also talks about the high school teacher who inspired her and a deep love of physics, leading her to ask what she calls “audacious” questions. These days, amid her excitement about AI and its potential, she also is focused on what humans must do to build safeguards, and has a message for parents, too. 02:50 - AI is a “civilizational technology” 04:15 - “Technology is a double-edged sword” 05:45 - Being a tech CEO and an academic 06:45 - Falling in love with physics 08:00 - What is intelligence? 08:40 - Finding my first North Star 09:45 - Fei-Fei Li’s two key breakthroughs 14:52 - Moving from China to the US at 15 15:48 - Running the family shop taught me resilience 17:30 - “I wasn’t curious about nightclubs” 18:20 - My inspirational teacher 22:20 - “China is a powerhouse in AI” 23:00 - Creating 3D worlds with AI 27:20 - AI and the jobs market 28:40 - Are humans going to be replaced? 31:00 - “The machine overlord” 32:45 - What should parents tell their children? 34:40 - The AI bubble 36:00 - Powering the big data centres AI needs 37:20 - “I’m not a tech utopian or a dystopian” 38:00 - “My one worry is our teachers” 39:20 - “I’m conscious of my responsibility” 41:28 - Fei-Fei Li believes in timeless human values 42:00 - “My favourite book these days is Harry Potter”

Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS

You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview

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