'Still early to gauge AI's impact'

As artificial intelligence reshapes industries rapidly, two senior leaders engaged in the new age technology say that despite the speed of progress, it is still difficult to predict the economic and societal impact of the technology.

- S NARAYANAN, VP-ENGINEERING, OPENAI & APARNA CHENNAPRAGADA, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER-AI, MICROSOFT

Srinivas Narayanan, vice president of engineering at OpenAI, and Aparna Chennapragada, chief product officer - AI at Microsoft, spoke to Anees Hussain about AI's development, India's role in shaping the field and the limits of current systems. Excerpts:

How would you characterise this moment in AI development?

Narayanan: This is a major technological shift. Many of us in tech haven't seen a tool this broad in scope. People are applying it in education, healthcare, finance, and across many other fields.

Chennapragada: The pace of progress is very fast. Things that seemed impossible just two years ago are now part of daily use. For example, generating images from text used to feel like magic. Now, it's common. This creates both opportunity and pressure; novelty alone isn't enough anymore.

What are the biggest risks and challenges you are grappling with?