From 30 Hours To 5: Narayana Murthy Says ChatGPT Helped Him Cut Lecture Preparation Time

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has revealed that his productivity increased fivefold since he started using the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to draft his lectures.

The 78-year-old tech pioneer told Moneycontrol that earlier, it would take him 25-30 hours to prepare a lecture. But after his son Rohan Murty introduced him to ChatGPT, it took him only five hours.

He said, "In a matter of five hours, I could improve the draft. In other words, I improved my productivity by as much as five times."

"There must be a theme, a sub-theme; they must be interrelated. At the end, there must be a strong message, all of that," he added.

Mr Murthy said that AI was not just a tool to boost personal productivity; it's powerful for the entire tech industry. He believes IT firms in India can utilise AI tools to boost efficiency, aid in drafting structures, increase coding speed, reduce errors, and complete tasks more quickly.

Mr Murthy has always been vocal about the use of AI and how it can be a tool to improve productivity. He said, "It is all about solving problems that are beyond human effort."

Earlier, he referred to AI as an augmentative tool rather than a replacement for skilled labour.

He compared today's rise of AI to what happened when computers were initially introduced in banks in the 1970s. He said that many at the time protested because they feared their jobs would be taken away.

Those same computers eventually helped them work faster and more efficiently, allowing them to finish their tasks on time and go home by 5 pm to spend time with families, he said, adding that jobs in the banking sector have multiplied by a factor of 40 to 50 since then.

"So, this whole fear that technology will take away jobs is not right. It will create a different kind of job," he added.

Giving an example, he said that when he used ChatGPT to draft his lectures, he realised the real skill was giving clear prompts, and that's when human intelligence came in.

He said he was optimistic that AI would accelerate the expansion of the tech sector in the future.