Chew predicts AI breakthroughs

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew expects artificial intelligence to drive major scientific breakthroughs within the next two to three years across physics, biotech, chemistry and material science.

“In the next two to three years, we're going to have a real scientific breakthrough: physics, biotech, chemistry, material science, because of AI.”

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TikTok's parent company ByteDance is expanding artificial intelligence research beyond consumer applications. In April, its Seed research team unveiled Protenix-v2, an AI model for biomolecular structure prediction with drug discovery potential.

AI progress outpaces expectations

Chew highlighted the accelerating pace of technological development in scientific research, arguing that AI's longer-term implications could be far greater than currently anticipated by most observers.

“The trend is very very clear. It's that we are only at the beginning of what artificial intelligence can probably do.”

Short-term hype, long-term potential

Chew said the technology's immediate impact could be overstated while its longer-term potential remains underappreciated. He believes AI progress is trending on a very steep curve in scientific areas.

“I think in the short term we are probably overestimating it, but in the long term we are probably underestimating it.”

Alignment and ethics remain open

Chew raised questions about ensuring increasingly powerful AI systems operate within human ethical boundaries, asking how to align machines to do things that are obvious to humans.

“How do you align the models? How do you align the machines to be doing things that are obvious to us as human beings?”

Cybersecurity risks grow with AI

Chew warned that AI's growing capabilities require stronger safeguards, particularly as autonomous systems become more widely adopted. He cited risks including fraudulent activities and unintended autonomous purchases.

“I think the cybersecurity risks are quite big.”