Hinrikus says AI will reach every sector

Artificial intelligence will eventually enter every field, and Estonian industry could use it to improve productivity, investor and entrepreneur Taavet Hinrikus told ERR’s Esimene stuudio programme.

Hinrikus said Estonia’s industrial productivity is below average and that more technology expertise should be brought into the wider economy. While IT skills are concentrated in the technology sector, he said, agriculture, tourism, energy and manufacturing also need to adopt AI.

In the past, a company might have needed a team of five or six people to complete work that one person can now do with AI, Hinrikus said. He described rapid change as a source of new opportunities, noting that new jobs would emerge even if some existing roles disappear.

Hinrikus, a shareholder in AI company Anthropic alongside Jaan Tallinn, said he shared concerns about the risks of AI. He said accidents had already occurred and more were likely, and argued that companies should devote as much attention to safety measures as they do to developing AI capabilities.

A possible Anthropic stock market listing would not significantly speed up or slow down AI development, Hinrikus said. It could, however, return some capital to be invested in new companies.