Artificial intelligence is here, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it, says Red Hat CEO Matt Hicks.
Hicks, speaking in front of engineering faculty and students at North Carolina State University Wednesday, was one of multiple industry professionals giving advice for training the workforce in the AI era.
It's a complex topic, as AI is transforming multiple industries. So what can schools like N.C. State do to prepare students for the jobs of the future? Hicks said the number one thing is to "embrace it."
“If you are a skeptic, there’s no fighting it,” he said of AI. “The horses have left the barn on that. If you shame people and say they shouldn’t use it, your students will still use it, they just won’t tell you. ... Teach people the limits, but teach people how they can shape it as well."
And don't just stick to the technical skills.
"The best people at AI interface are just really good at communicating," added John Petitte, CEO and co-founder of Amplifi Labs.
Hicks and Pettite were joined on a panel by Ray Levy, professor of mathematics at N.C. State and executive director of the Data Science Academy; Ozzy Lozoya, scientific computing principal investigator in the Center for Data Modernization Solutions at RTI International; and Elif Balkas, CTO at Wolfspeed. The panel was part of the Applied AI In Engineering & Computer Science Symposium.
The panelists said AI is already transforming their jobs.
Balkas said Wolfspeed, which manufactures next-generation semiconductors, uses AI for predictive analysis, detecting defects. It also assists its researchers to develop patterns as they experiment with the materials. She says the possibilities of AI are “something we are really excited about as a company.”
“It really accelerates the technology development,” she said. “On the other hand it also accelerates the trouble shooting when you see an issue in the production environment.”
Balkas also sees potential in factory optimization — perhaps particularly relevant as Wolfspeed works towards completing its megafactory in Chatham County.
