TIME Just Published its List of the 100 Most Influential People in AI

Key Takeaways

• TIME published a list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence
• The list features people across disciplines and viewpoints
• It’s an interesting curation of the people behind AI and a snapshot of where the technology stands now

TIME has published a list of the 100 most influential people in AI. It’s a roundup of the people pushing the algorithms, making language models safe to use, and navigating the complex questions around how (and how not) to use artificial intelligence. The list even includes some of AI’s harshest public critics. It’s a one-of-a-kind curatorial effort. As TIME said: “Reporting on people and influence is what TIME does best.”

Let’s take a look at some of the standouts from the list below.

Who made the list?

Overall, the structure of the list is what’s most interesting about it. It’s broken into the categories of leaders, innovators, shapers, and thinkers. It runs the gamut of CEO’s, founders, funders, critics, policymakers, artists, and activists. We won’t summarize all one hundred bios here, but we will call out a few.

Of coure Sam Altman, the man behind OpenAI and GPT, made the list. So, too, did Ted Chiang, a science fiction writer-turned-critic of AI. 18-year-old Sneha Revanur is a particularly young person featured. Revanur met with the Biden Administration on behalf of Encode Justice, a youth-led movement organizing for ethical AI. 76-year-old Geoffrey Hinton, who you may remember for leaving his position at Google to speak about the risks of the very technology he helped create, is also featured.

The mix of contrasts continues throughout the list. Marc Andressen, of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz is not far from Clément Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face. Meanwhile, multimedia artist Stephanie Dinkins and musician Grimes also make an appearance.

What does the list tell us about the state of AI?

What TIME does particularly well in this list is reflect the myriad applications and mixed sentiments surrounding AI. Among the 100 people featured, there are collaborators, rivals, and opposing views. AI touches so many aspects of life, business, and creativity already — with more applications on the horizon — and this list is an attempt to reflect that variety in the people behind the technology.

The list reminds us that AI is a hard thing to summarize or put a fine point on. From an investment perspective, we’ll continue to see it expand across different industries and evolve along the way.

The bottom line

This TIME edition’s lead editor, Naina Bajekal, said: “We wanted to highlight the industry leaders at the forefront of the AI boom, individuals outside these companies who are grappling with profound ethical questions around the uses of AI, and the innovators around the world who are trying to use AI to address social challenges.”

We’re thinking of it as a “ones to watch” for the field of AI, and also a reminder that AI is a long-game with many chapters in its future.