Ex-Google chief scientist tells Gen Z the trick is not to master AI—instead, just ‘skim papers’

Jeff Dean, the former chief scientist at Google, advises young people entering the tech field not to attempt to master artificial intelligence (AI) but rather to skim widely and look for connections between ideas. In his first public talk since leaving Google, Dean suggested that skimming 10 papers can provide more insight than reading just one in detail.

He also recommended skimming 100 abstracts to identify important ideas that have yet to be connected. Dean emphasized the importance of using time wisely and thinking broadly in order to find solutions to problems that seem unsolvable. He believes that a realistic timeline for a problem to be solved is around five years, as a problem that takes 20 years to solve is likely too ambitious, while a problem that is too obvious may not lead to a significant breakthrough.

Dean remains optimistic about AI's potential to improve lives by providing access to expertise that would otherwise require years of specialized training.