I began writing this blog post Sunday night after watching the 60 Minutes episode that spanned almost 30 minutes (much longer than the average segment) about the AI revolution that we all know is coming extremely fast. Host interviewer Scott Pelley was taken aback by such emotion at one point that he had tears in his eyes saying “I am rarely speechless. I don’t know what to make of this.” While this felt a bit corny (it is in fact his job to draw emotion from audiences), I knew I had to write this post about my questions, comments, and concerns regarding this so-called AI revolution and episode put on by 60 Minutes that primarily involved talking with Google CEO and AI development team. In the middle of the episode, I texted my dad because I know his usual Sunday night routine involves watching 60 Minutes (guess I’m turning into my dad earlier than I thought I would…).
Me: Are you watching this 60 Minutes episode right now?
Him: Yes. Fascinating.
We talked on the phone for a bit after regarding each other’s opinions and ideas on it. My dad is a very practical and unassuming guy as you can tell from his text message, but even he harped on how much more significant AI is going to be than he originally gave it credit for. I would like to pause and say that it is truly awesome that we are lucky enough to be taking this course now during the beginning of the AI revolution. In due time, we’ll be able to look back at these blog posts, guest speakers, and Twitter to see how our expectations failed or were completely shattered.
My biggest takeaway from 60 Minutes and everything we’ve learned in class is: today AI is a powerful technological tool that can take the entirety of data and information that is given to it – basically all of the Internet which relies on being able to read and write human language – and can output something pretty accurately that reads, sounds, or looks like it was done by a sophisticated human being. This is my collectively exhausting summary of what AI is today. Compound this over and over again with microchips that can handle AI tasks 100,000 times faster than the human brain. Who knows where we will be in 10, 20, or 30 years? I bet life is going to look incredibly different. Shoutout to the readers who are familiar with the “society if ______” meme. It just felt appropriate.
Scott Pelley interviewed and talked with Google CEO Sundar Pichai for a large portion of the episode. I thought Pichai was extremely well-spoken and concise with his responses; one I found particularly interesting. He was asked: is society ready for what is coming? He gave two answers: 1) No. The pace at which societal institutions think and adapt compared to the rate of technological evolution does not match. 2) Yes. More people are worried early enough to spark conversations about its implications. If we can loop back to his first answer, it seems that he might believe our society isn’t handling the technology we already have like we should or to the best of our productive, happy, and ethical abilities (could he alluding to what I discussed in my first blog post?). As for his second answer, I’m not convinced at all. Who is going to have these conversations that set the precedent? It is an astronomically large conversation that could span over a decade, and those doing the creating won’t be waiting for any sort of a decision, especially when Pichai says that “AI will impact every product in every company.” He’s most certainly not wrong.
A question for the readers: What is something that AI will not impact? Let me know what you think so we can start a conversation in the comments.
I think this topic will be something we hear about for a long time. I think about how I still hear people discuss the implications of the internet as a whole, especially on social aspects of life, let alone AI. So, if we are still discussing something that our generation has grown up with, I can only imagine how long the discussion on AI will take.
I agree it is super cool to be in this class at this time during the start of the AI revolution. I watched the segment and it was cool to see Sundar talk about AI. At one point he said he wasnt even sure how it worked (referencing the black box) and that is a scary sentence to hear from someone so heavily involved with said technology. It did give me piece of mind to hear him say that we all must be responsible and mentioned the safety measures they have in place.
Aside from things that are out of human control (eg. weather), I can’t think of one area that AI will not impact. It has application to every industry, skill, hobby, interaction, and career. While AI will not necessarily have a positive impact on all of these areas, it will still have an impact. For example, it will and has impacted human interaction on a global scale. In some cases, we have already seen it replace restaurant workers, teachers, and doctors. AI is limitless and it is really interesting to think about how it can touch every area of our lives. Great post!
Hey Joseph, very interesting post. I’m curious to watch that full episode with my dad too now! I liked the jokes and personal touch throughout the blog post, and the meme was perfectly placed. Also, it is so cool that we are taking this class and learning so much from our classes about this upcoming AI revolution as it begins. I was talking to a friend the other day, and she hadn’t even heard of Chat GPT, but it seems like common knowledge to us. It just shows how much we are learning about tech and AI compared to the general population.
I actually agree with Pichai’s comments that society isn’t yet ready for AI, but AI is not going to have as big of an impact on society until we are. I think AI on its own is not likely to have as big of an impact until organizations of all types learn to adapt it into its everyday actions. I think that future is a bit further away than Pichai acknowledges, but its certainly coming fast.
I also lived through and taught during 3 other world changing tech innovations – Dot com 1.0, Social Media, and Mobile. I do think AI is likely to be bigger than any one of these individually, I do think we’ve lived through a constant stream of tech disruption at an amazing page (and, I’d argue, have adapted reasonably well as a society so far).
Hi! This post is quite interesting. I was telling my friend the other day how I am glad that I am taking this class during the AI revolution because I feel like I get to see it unfold and then discuss it in class day by day. I feel like it’s even more crazy for us as MIS students whereas there are some people who don’t even understand the depths of AI. Good job!
Hey Joseph! It’s fascinating to see how AI is evolving and improving every day. I think it’s essential for us to have conversations and discussions about the implications of AI and how we can handle it responsibly. As for your question, I think AI might not impact human emotions and empathy in the same way that we can understand and relate to one another on a personal level.