Why Amazon Is Launching Free AI Classes | WSJ Tech News Briefing

Tech News Briefing Podcast | WSJ
21 Nov 202305:15

TLDRAmazon has launched a program called AI Ready to address the AI talent shortage in the industry. The initiative aims to train at least 2 million people by 2025, offering free online courses on AI skills, from basic to advanced levels. The courses are accessible on an Amazon learning website and are targeted at individuals in tech or related fields. Amazon's investment in AI training not only aims to uplift the industry but also serves as a strategic move to familiarize users with their AI systems, potentially aiding in talent recruitment and benefiting partner companies and enterprise customers.

Takeaways

  • 🚀 Amazon has launched a new program called AI Ready, aiming to provide free AI classes to the public.
  • 🎓 The goal of AI Ready is to train at least 2 million people by 2025 in AI skills, ranging from basic to advanced levels.
  • 💡 The program is designed to address the talent shortage in the AI industry, as identified by a survey conducted by Amazon.
  • 🌐 Courses are accessible online through an Amazon learning website and are not limited to Amazon employees.
  • 🔍 Target audience includes individuals working in tech or tech-adjacent roles, who may interact with AI technology in their jobs.
  • 🏢 Amazon's initiative also serves as a strategic move to familiarize a broader audience with their AI systems, potentially aiding in talent recruitment.
  • 🤖 Amazon's generative AI efforts are primarily focused on its Cloud Computing Services through AWS, where it is developing and partnering to build AI tools.
  • 📈 Amazon is investing in AI to keep up with its rivals like Microsoft and Google, who have made significant strides in generative AI recently.
  • 💼 The company has upgraded its AWS Bedrock AI platform, and Amazon's CEO anticipates substantial revenue from generative AI in the coming years.
  • 📚 The AI Ready program is considered a starting point, with plans to improve and expand the training offerings based on feedback from participants.
  • 🌟 Generative AI is being integrated into various parts of Amazon's business, including Alexa smart speakers, advertising services, and website search and reviews.

Q & A

  • What is the name of the new program launched by Amazon for AI training?

    -The new program launched by Amazon for AI training is called AI Ready.

  • By what year does Amazon plan to train at least 2 million people through the AI Ready program?

    -Amazon plans to train at least 2 million people through the AI Ready program by 2025.

  • What type of skills will be taught in the AI Ready program?

    -The AI Ready program will teach basic to advanced AI skills, including how to make use of generative AI technology that powers language-based models like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

  • Who can access the AI Ready courses?

    -The AI Ready courses are free to access online through an Amazon learning website and are available not only to Amazon employees but also to non-Amazon employees, especially those working in the tech industry or tech-adjacent roles.

  • Why is Amazon launching the AI Ready program?

    -Amazon is launching the AI Ready program because they see a shortage of AI talent in the industry. The program aims to lift up the industry by addressing the talent shortage and also helps Amazon competitively by familiarizing people with their AI systems.

  • How does the AI Ready program benefit Amazon and its partners?

    -The AI Ready program benefits Amazon by培养熟悉其AI系统的人才, potentially serving as a recruiting tool. It also benefits partner companies and enterprise customers that use Amazon's cloud and generative AI services by helping them develop necessary AI skills and talent.

  • Where is Amazon primarily focusing its generative AI efforts?

    -Amazon is primarily focusing its generative AI efforts in its Cloud Computing Services, AWS, where it is building and partnering with companies to create generative AI tools.

  • How is Amazon integrating generative AI into its own company?

    -Amazon is integrating generative AI into its Alexa smart speaker, advertising services, and the website search and reviews portion of its sites.

  • What challenges does Amazon face in setting up AI classes through the AI Ready program?

    -One of the challenges Amazon faces in setting up the AI classes is determining the specific AI talent and skills needed in the industry, as it is a rapidly evolving field. The company intends to use the program as a starting point, learning from and gathering feedback on the courses to improve the training program.

  • What other AI investments is Amazon making to keep up with its rivals?

    -To keep up with its rivals, Amazon has made upgrades to its AWS Bedrock AI platform. Amazon's CEO envisions the company making tens of billions of dollars in the next few years in generative AI, emphasizing that generative AI is now touching every part of Amazon.

  • How do Microsoft and Google's recent investments in generative AI influence Amazon's AI initiatives?

    -Microsoft and Google have made significant investments in generative AI in recent months and years. This influences Amazon's AI initiatives as it prompts the company to make its own substantial investments and advancements in the field to remain competitive in the industry.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Amazon's AI Ready Program Launch

Amazon has initiated a new program called 'AI Ready,' aimed at offering free artificial intelligence classes, with a goal to train at least 2 million people by 2025. These classes cover a range from basic to advanced AI skills, particularly focusing on the use of generative AI technology, similar to what powers OpenAI's ChatGPT. Amazon's move is to address the AI talent shortage in the tech industry by making these courses accessible online for free, targeting both Amazon and non-Amazon employees, especially those working in tech or related fields. The program not only serves as a competitive edge against tech giants like Microsoft and Google but also aligns with Amazon's strategy to familiarize a wider audience with its AI platforms, potentially serving as a recruitment tool and benefiting its enterprise customers and partners. Amazon's focus on integrating generative AI into various aspects of its business, including AWS, Alexa, and advertising services, underlines the importance of this initiative. The program also highlights the industry's challenge in defining the AI talent and skills needed, with Amazon planning to evolve its courses based on feedback.

05:01

🎶 Brief Music Interlude

A brief musical interlude, likely serving as a transition or pause in the video content.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn like humans. In the context of the video, AI is the driving force behind generative technologies such as language-based models, which Amazon aims to teach through its AI Ready program.

💡AI Ready

AI Ready is a new initiative by Amazon that offers free online classes to teach AI skills. The program is designed to address the shortage of AI talent in the industry and is targeted at individuals working in tech or tech-adjacent roles, as well as Amazon's own employees.

💡Generative AI Technology

Generative AI technology refers to AI systems that can create new content, such as text, images, or audio, based on patterns learned from data. This type of AI is used in language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT, which can generate human-like text responses.

💡Language-based Models

Language-based models are a type of AI that specializes in understanding and generating human language. These models are trained on large datasets of text to predict the next word or sentence in a sequence, enabling tasks like language translation, text summarization, and conversational AI.

💡Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services, or AWS, is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments. AWS is a market leader in the cloud computing industry and offers a wide range of services including storage, computing, database, and machine learning.

💡Talent Shortage

Talent shortage refers to a situation where there is a lack of skilled individuals available to fill job positions in a particular industry. In the context of the video, Amazon has identified a talent shortage in the AI field and is launching the AI Ready program to help address this issue.

💡Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage is an edge that a company has over its competitors, which allows it to outperform them in the marketplace. By offering free AI training, Amazon not only helps address the industry's talent shortage but also positions itself favorably in the competition for skilled AI professionals.

💡Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, such as storage, processing power, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence, over the internet (the 'cloud'). It allows users to access and use these services on-demand and at a pay-as-you-go basis, without the need for physical infrastructure.

💡Generative AI in Business

The integration of generative AI into business operations refers to the use of AI to create new content, automate processes, and enhance customer experiences. Companies are increasingly leveraging generative AI to innovate and remain competitive in their respective industries.

💡AI Investment

AI investment refers to the financial resources and efforts a company dedicates to developing and implementing AI technologies. These investments are crucial for companies to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI landscape and maintain a competitive edge.

💡Industry Trends

Industry trends refer to the prevailing patterns or developments within a particular sector, indicating the direction in which the industry is heading. Keeping abreast of these trends is essential for companies to make informed strategic decisions and remain competitive.

Highlights

Amazon launched a new program called AI Ready, aiming to offer free AI classes.

The e-commerce giant plans to train at least 2 million people by 2025 on AI skills, ranging from basic to advanced levels.

The AI technology in focus includes generative AI, which has powered language-based models like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Amazon's AI Ready courses are accessible online for free, not only to Amazon employees but also to individuals in the tech industry.

Amazon identified a shortage of AI talent in the industry and aims to address this through their training initiative.

The training program could also serve as a competitive strategy, familiarizing people with Amazon's AI systems and potentially acting as a recruitment tool.

Amazon's AI training programs can benefit partner companies and enterprise customers using Amazon's cloud and generative AI services.

Amazon's generative AI efforts are primarily concentrated in its Cloud Computing Services, AWS.

The company is building generative AI tools within AWS and collaborating with other companies to develop such tools.

Amazon is integrating generative AI into its Alexa smart speaker, advertising services, and website search and review sections.

The industry faces challenges in determining the specific AI talents and skills required, which impacts the creation of relevant courses.

Amazon's AI training program is a starting point, with plans to learn and improve from feedback received from course participants.

Amazon is making significant investments in AI to keep pace with rivals like Microsoft and Google, who have made substantial advancements in generative AI.

Amazon's CEO envisions the company generating tens of billions of dollars in the next few years through generative AI.

Generative AI is now being integrated into every part of Amazon's operations, signifying a major strategic push by the company.

Amazon has upgraded its AWS Bedrock AI platform, indicating a commitment to enhancing its AI capabilities.

The launch of AI Ready is part of Amazon's broader AI investment strategy to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.