Better companies
Innovation faces
The cyber magician
Cofounder and CEO of Wiz, one of the most dynamic cybersecurity companies in the world, Assaf Rappaport works towards innovation t…
Better meInnovation faces
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
article
The AI Ally
A pioneer in deep learning, French scientist Yann Le Cun embodies a humanistic vision of artificial intelligence. From his early research in computer vision to his advocacy for open and responsible AI, he has championed the concept of AMI (Advanced Machine Intelligence) and has spent over forty years shaping the future of intelligent machines.
The architect of modern neural networks
In the 1980s and 1990s, Yann Le Cun played a key role in the development of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), an architecture inspired by the human visual cortex, which he adapted and refined for pattern recognition. This groundbreaking work laid the foundation for modern computer vision applications.
In 2003, he joined New York University and founded the NYU Center for Data Science. A decade later, Mark Zuckerberg appointed him to lead the newly created Facebook AI Research lab (FAIR), which has since become one of the world’s most influential AI research centers. Le Cun is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the French Knight of the Legion of Honor.
In 2018, at the age of 58, he was awarded the prestigious Turing Award (the "Nobel Prize of computing") alongside Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, for their fundamental contributions to deep learning.
Machine Intelligence
Meta’s Chief AI Scientist maintains a measured stance on speculation about the emergence of Artificial General Intelligence - AI systems capable of reasoning and acting like humans — which he considers premature and often disconnected from the current state of scientific progress. He also approaches generative AI with caution: promising, in his view, but limited by a shallow understanding of the world.
Instead, he promotes the concept of AMI (Advanced Machine Intelligence), an approach based on a system’s ability to learn and understand autonomously. Inspired by how the human brain functions - without copying it - AMI aims to develop flexible intelligences grounded in common sense, curiosity, and self-supervised learning.
A humanistic vision
Yann Le Cun embodies a deeply humanistic approach to AI, rooted in ethics and respect for universal values. He sees this technology not as a replacement for humans, but as a way to enhance our capabilities, and firmly rejects doomsday narratives about AI spiraling out of control, which he sees as more science fiction than scientific reality.
He reminds us that no matter how powerful, algorithms are still tools shaped by human intent. For Le Cun, AI is primarily a lever for societal progress, offering potential to tackle major global challenges (health, education, the environment, etc.). It can be a force for good - provided it is rigorously regulated: transparent and explainable, developed within an open and democratic research framework, and not monopolized by a handful of tech giants.
Yann Le Cun on AI, in 5 quotes
AI at the heart of the Enlightenment
With the help of AI, human intelligence will be amplified - not just that of humanity as a whole, but of each individual’s intelligence and creativity. This could lead to a human renaissance, a new Age of Enlightenment.
The power of AI in question
I wish world leaders understood better the magnitude of what we’re doing - both in terms of the power we are creating, which can be good or dangerous, and the risks that come with that power.
The illusion of human AI
People are wrong to assume AI systems will have the same motivations as humans. They won’t. We will design them so that they don’t.
AI for solutions
Intelligence is probably the most needed resource in the world. It could help us solve all the problems we face. A technology that amplifies human intelligence can only be a force for good - as long as it is used wisely.
AI as a force for human renaissance
Artificial intelligence is a way to amplify human intelligence - just as machines amplify physical strength. We shouldn’t fear AI. On the contrary, we should see it as a new Renaissance, possibly a new beginning for humanity, because the progress of humanity is limited by human intelligence.
