PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The advent of large language models and generative AI has been accompanied with a certain amount of fear. Will it take away creativity? Will it eliminate jobs? Will it take over the planet? Brown University Professor of Computer Science Suresh Venkatasubramanian believes many of those fears are overblown. 

In a brief video interview, Venkatasubramanian, who directs the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination and Redesign in Brown’s Data Science Institute, says AI is just another piece of technology that helps to expand human capability — not unlike a calculator. Ultimately, how AI is developed and used is up to humans. 

“It’s not alive. It’s not conscious. It’s us,” he said. 

As for whether it’s going to take people’s jobs, Venkatasubramanian says generative AI is not there yet. 

“If you think the job you're doing is one that can be replaced by a system that gives us kind of B-minus / C-plus answers, that perhaps is a job that could be replaced,” he said. “But if you're doing work that requires… a certain degree of creativity or thinking or experience or knowledge, then it is not likely that systems in existence today will be able to replace you in any way, shape or form.”