The truth about artificial intelligence with Dr Alok Aggarwal

Dr Alok Aggarwal pioneered the concept of ‘knowledge process outsourcing (KPO)’, co-founded Evalueserve (4000+ employees), founded IBM’s India Research Laboratory, and founded Scry AI that builds proprietary AI products for enterprises globally.

He has published 125 research articles, taught 2 courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and has a Ph.D from Johns Hopkins University and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.

In this conversation with Pankaj Agarwal, with insights drawn from his book The Fourth Industrial Revolution in 100 Years of AI from 1950 to 2050, Dr Alok Agarwal presents a compelling argument for why AI is not just another technological trend but a catalyst for a new industrial revolution. He delves into the history of industrial revolutions to understand what makes AI stand out.

From steam engines to CPUs, each era has been marked by inventions that transformed societies. This episode offers a thorough analysis of how AI compares to these past innovations, while also cautioning against the hype that surrounds it.

For entrepreneurs, the episode highlights the risks of getting caught up in the AI hype without developing robust intellectual property and suggests strategies for creating high-value AI products.

AI’s role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Dr Alok Aggarwal, with a remarkable career at IBM, and as the founder of E-ValueServe and Scry AI, has been at the forefront of AI's growth.

“In every industrial revolution, multiple inventions come together to form new infrastructures,” Dr Aggarwal explains. “For example, in the first revolution, steam engines formed the backbone of change, while in the second, it was electricity. Today, AI is not only creating new infrastructure but is also interacting with other technologies like IoT, blockchain, and gene editing.”

AI stands apart from earlier industrial revolutions due to its ability to handle complex tasks that require reasoning and contextual understanding, making it a foundational technology of our time.

Dr Aggarwal elaborates, “AI is already being used in more than 2,500 operational use cases today, and by 2050, I believe we’ll see it applied in over 100,000 use cases.”

The hype and reality of AI adoption

Pankaj, the host, points out the excitement surrounding AI, particularly generative AI, and how tech leaders like Sundar Pichai have compared AI’s impact to that of electricity. He asks Dr Aggarwal whether AI will have a more pervasive impact than previous technological shifts.

Dr Aggarwal responds with cautious optimism, “There is a lot of hype around AI today, much like in the 1950s and 1980s. However, it is important to remember that all major inventions take time to integrate into society. Just as it took decades for electricity to reach half of the American population, AI adoption will also take time to mature fully.”

While the media focuses heavily on LLMs (large language models) and GPTs (generative pre-trained transformers), Dr Aggarwal stresses that we are still in the early stages of AI’s real-world applications.

“These models are excellent at generating text and fooling humans with their proficiency, but we haven’t yet solved the problem of how to fully integrate them into production-level systems,” he remarks.

AI’s impact across industries

The conversation then shifts toward the sectors that will be most affected by AI in the coming years. Dr Aggarwal outlines that virtually every industry and department within an organisation will experience AI’s influence, from finance and procurement to marketing and sales.

“AI is exceptional at classification and pattern recognition,” he explains. “In healthcare, for example, AI can differentiate between whether a person has skin cancer or not. In supply chain management, AI is already detecting water leaks and optimising delivery routes, while in banking, AI helps assess credit risks and improve fraud detection.”

One particularly exciting area that Dr Aggarwal highlights is intelligent document processing, which can transform industries such as insurance and legal services.

“So much data is trapped in paper documents and PDFs. AI can process and convert this unstructured data into usable information, saving companies time and money,” he says.

Challenges and opportunities for AI entrepreneurs

When asked about advice for AI entrepreneurs, Dr Aggarwal provides practical guidance on how startups can thrive in the AI space. He emphasises the importance of starting with small, specific use cases and ensuring the integration of subject matter expertise alongside machine learning.

“AI is not just machine learning. Startups must understand that AI requires both learning from data and the application of expert knowledge. A big reason why many startups fail is that they neglect to incorporate subject matter expertise into their systems.”

He also warns against falling into the trap of over-relying on open-source models without building proprietary intellectual property.

“You can’t just piece together open-source models and call it a product,” he cautions.

“To succeed, companies need to develop IP that gives them a competitive edge, such as improving accuracy by combining models or applying domain-specific knowledge.”

Looking ahead: AI’s future potential

As the conversation draws to a close, Dr Aggarwal shares his belief that AI will eventually play a more significant role in society than electricity, though it will take time to realise this vision fully. He notes that India, with its vast pool of software professionals and expertise in data annotation, is poised to become a major player in the global AI landscape.

In his parting thoughts, Dr Aggarwal emphasises the long-term nature of AI innovation.

“It may take another 10 to 15 years for AI to become truly pervasive, but when it does, the world will see it embedded in every facet of business and daily life. This Fourth Industrial Revolution is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” he concludes.

Timestamps

03:55 - Historical analysis of industrial revolutions

19:11 - The impact of AI on industries

34:05 - Navigating AI and intellectual property

45:27 - AI transforming services in India