Ex-Google CEO Glazes AI In Graduation Speech To Crowd Of Boos

"There is a fear in your generation that the future has already been written, that the machines are coming, that the jobs are evaporating, that the climate is breaking, that politics is fractured, and that you are inheriting a mess that you did not create. And I understand that fear. It's rational, and it's amplified every day by social media platforms with algorithms that have learned with great precision that fear earns clicks and that anxiety drives engagement, but I want to say something to you this evening as clearly as I can: To speak of the future as though it has already been decided is to surrender the one thing that actually matters."

"You are surrendering your agency. The future does not simply arrive, it gets built in laboratories, in dormitories, in start ups, in classrooms, in legislators, and the people building it will be you and people like you. The question is not whether AI will shape the world, it will, the question is whether you will help shape artificial intelligence. We do not know the precise contours of what this transformation will look like, but what we do know is it will require each of us to adapt in ways that we cannot yet anticipate."

A graduation speech at the University of Arizona addressed fears about artificial intelligence replacing jobs, harming the environment, and worsening political and social conditions. The speaker said the fear is rational and is amplified by social media algorithms that reward anxiety. The speech argued that treating the future as already decided surrenders agency. It stated that the future is built through laboratories, dormitories, startups, classrooms, legislators, and the people who build new systems. It emphasized that AI will shape the world, but individuals can influence how it is shaped. It also said the transformation will require adaptations that cannot yet be fully predicted.

Read at Kotaku