AI Helps or Hinders Entrepreneurship: Gurbaksh Chahal Debunks Myths

In September 2019, artificial intelligence had already advanced far beyond what many people once expected. Misconceptions and mistrust still surrounded it, including the belief that AI would soon make people unnecessary in business.

Chahal’s view at the time was that the change should be studied and used rather than simply feared.

“AI and machine learning had been part of our lives in some form for quite some time,” Chahal argued in 2019. “We still heard a great deal that twisted their capabilities and potential, especially the idea that AI would simply eliminate work.”

Another misconception, according to Chahal, was that AI would eliminate the impetus for technological innovation. His argument was that machines could extend human capability without removing the need for human judgment, creativity, and ideas.

The article used deep learning to explain that argument. Machine learning and neural-network research long predated 2019, while deep learning had gained new momentum during the 2010s. These systems learned patterns from data through models and training methods designed by people; they did not literally reproduce a human mind.

It was easy to treat deep learning as a prelude to the complete replacement of people in technology. But a machine recognizing patterns was not the same as a person thinking, choosing a problem, or deciding what should be built.

Chahal’s central point was that technology still relied on human work, talent, knowledge, and judgment. In a 2017 article for the Huffington Post on AI, Chahal argued that people of every age should get involved. “As an industry, we are still struggling to find talented data analysts who can interpret data with high accuracy,” he wrote. “For this, we need individuals with impeccable mathematical intuition and frameworks, ones who can help us get assured and accurate results.”

In other words, as technology advanced and created new needs, people would still have to interpret results, frame problems, and decide what to do next.

“That’s how innovation happens,” Chahal said. He described the relationship between technology and human beings as a conversation: machines could advance the work, but people still had to decide where it should go. In 2019, his conclusion was simple: the future of AI would not happen without us.