Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka has sparked controversy by declaring that artificial intelligence adds zero value to the world and carries significant potential to cause harm — a position that experts have challenged, pointing to AI’s proven contributions to medicine, education and scientific research.
Wierzycka said her views crystallized after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, where conversations about AI left her deeply troubled rather than optimistic. “I walked out of Davos saying, ‘Delete it. Someone press a delete button or regulate against it. It cannot be allowed and cannot be deployed,’” she told the Conversations with Lelethu podcast. “It is out of hand.”
Her concerns go beyond the widely discussed impact of AI on jobs and mass unemployment. Wierzycka said she was particularly struck by findings from behavioral psychologists studying AI’s effect on children. “They are discovering that, in many cases, AI is replacing human relationships in the lives of children. It is now their best friend that is available 24/7 and telling you what you want to hear,” she said.
She warned of three long-term consequences: cognitive decline, an erosion of problem-solving ability, and a loss of empathy. “You do not learn, and you forget how to process problems and engage with them. You just type it in and get an answer,” Wierzycka said. “You no longer deal with real people and their emotions, but rather a machine that tells you what you want.”
Experts have pushed back firmly on her claims. Steven Boykey Sidley, a professor of practice at the University of Johannesburg, said the assertion that AI has produced no value is demonstrably incorrect. “The accusation that AI has provided zero value is patently false. It has already discovered new science, new drugs, and powered schools to give better outcomes for learners,” he told radio station 702.
Sidley acknowledged that AI’s proponents, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have overstated the technology’s near-term impact, while doomsayers have similarly exaggerated its downsides. “As with most things like this, a new and fast-growing technology, you are going to have good and bad outcomes. It will swing between optimism and pessimism many times,” he said.
He said the potential upside justifies accepting some risk. “If you take a single positive, which I think is almost guaranteed to happen, such as AI finding a cure for cancer — that is a certainty, and that single thing will be worth the money spent,” Sidley said.
The exchange comes as Wierzycka simultaneously moves ahead with plans to launch a venture capital fund to invest in South African AI startups, a position she has reconciled by arguing that local investment is necessary to prevent the country’s AI talent from being absorbed by overseas firms.
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