At London Tech Week on Monday, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang shared a vision of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative force that could make technology accessible to everyone. Speaking alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Huang described AI as “the great equaliser” for the future of work, particularly in programming. His key message? Treat AI kindly, and it will unlock remarkable possibilities. Huang, whose company designs cutting-edge AI chips, explained that programming has historically been a complex skill reserved for those fluent in languages like C++ or Python. But AI is changing that now.
“We had to learn programming languages. We had to architect it. We had to design these computers that are very complicated,” he said. “Now, all of a sudden, there’s a new programming language. This new programming language is called ‘human’,” Huang told the audience. This means anyone can now instruct computers using everyday language.
His advice for getting the best out of AI is surprisingly simple: “Just ask it nicely.” Huang illustrated this with an example of asking an AI to write a poem about the keynote speech at London Tech Week. “You say: You are an incredible poet … And I would like you to write a poem to describe today’s keynote,” he said. The AI would produce a poem effortlessly, and if it’s not quite right, you can politely ask it to improve. “It’ll go off and think about it, and it’ll come back and say, in fact, I can do better,” Huang added.
This conversational approach to AI reflects a broader shift in technology. Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT gained widespread attention in 2022, conversational AI models like Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot have made it easier for people to interact with technology in a human-like way. Huang’s remarks align with this trend, suggesting that AI can empower non-experts to perform tasks like coding, generating images, or even writing poetry.
The event also highlighted the UK’s growing role in AI development. Huang praised the country’s progress, describing it as a “Goldilocks” moment for AI growth, according to John Tomase, Editor at LinkedIn News. Prime Minister Starmer reinforced this optimism by announcing a 1 billion investment in AI infrastructure upgrades.
However, the rise of AI in programming raises questions about the future of coding jobs. Tech leaders like Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella have revealed that AI already writes 30 per cent of their companies’ code, up from 25 per cent in October 2024. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg predicted that within 12 to 18 months, AI could write nearly all code for projects like Meta’s Llama. Meanwhile, companies like Duolingo and Shopify are increasingly replacing human roles with AI, with Shopify’s CEO Tobias Lutke requiring teams to justify why AI cannot handle tasks before hiring new staff.
Just last week, OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, said that soon AI will be able to do anything humans can do. “AI will keep getting better and the day will come when AI will do all the things that we can do,” he said.
This week, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, speaking on The Times Tech podcast, warned that AI’s rapid growth may lead to a recession and widespread white-collar job losses. “There will be an implication for white-collar jobs,” and that such a shift “usually leads to at least a recession in the short term.” “Unfortunately, I don’t see how we could avoid that, with what’s happening from a technology perspective,” he added.
Despite these trends, many tech leaders, including Huang, see AI as a tool to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them. Darren Hardman, an AI company founder, echoed this at London Tech Week, saying, “AI should empower people, not replace them. It’s about removing digital drudgery so we can focus on the work that truly matters – the work that makes us human.” Huang’s vision of AI as an equaliser suggests a future where technology amplifies human potential, making creativity and innovation accessible to all.