一个畅游人工智能之银河工程师的人生指南
哥伦比亚大学工程学院毕业典礼演讲
2017年5月15日
李开复博士，创新工场创始人兼CEO
图片来自网络
谢谢，2017界的毕业生们。谢谢你们能通请我来到这个精彩的毕业庆典上和大家聊几句。能够重回哥大为你们这群杰出的毕业生们、学生的父母们、兄弟姐妹们以及特别嘉宾做演讲是我莫大的荣幸。今天，就让我们聚在起来分享这场毕业盛会的喜悦。
首先，我想对你们说我真的为你们感到非常的骄傲，你们干得漂亮。你们的家人也都为你们感到骄傲，今天是属于你们的。
我依稀记得34年前我坐在你们这个位置时的情形，感觉那个时候是我生命中最美好的时光，我找到了人生中最喜爱的专业-人工智能，我找到我一生的爱好-桥牌，我曾经每周玩30个小时的桥牌，但直到如今哥大仍然没有给我发一个桥牌的学位证。在哥大时我遇到了我的初恋，并最终成为我一生的挚爱。在我的毕业典礼上，我有幸聆听到著名的科幻作家阿西莫夫的演讲，但今天我只能抱歉的说你们只能听听我的发言了。
无论怎么样，在哥伦比亚大学的几年是我人生中最美好的时光之一。或许这也是你们会期待我或者其他演讲者在这个毕业典礼上对你们说：“这是你们人生中最为美好的几年时光”，但是，今天我并不打算这么说。
因为我知道，这离你们将来最为美好的时光还有很大差距，我知道属于你们的巅峰时期还没到来。具体说来，我希望接下来的10年将会是你生命当中最为美好的10年。
为什么是10年呢？10年好像很遥远，但是事实并非如此。如果一起回想2007年5月，你就会发现这可能是一个很好的方式去预想未来的10年里我们的世界排会发生什么样的变化。
回想起2007年，依然觉得非常有趣，当史蒂夫乔布斯向世人展示iphone时，我依然在使用我的的黑莓手机，我的太太还在使用她的诺基亚手机。
就在2007年年轻的议员巴拉克奥巴马宣布竞选总统时，唐纳德川普依然在说“你被解雇了”，而不是如今宣扬的“让美国重回伟大”。
因此，10年的时间能做很多事，而且在下一个10年取得的成就将会远超过去的10年。为什么?因为，下一个10年将会是人工智能的时代，也是我们常说的AI时代。
作为学生，你可能已经发现与AI相关的课程的选课人数在不断增加，这绝对是人工智能蓬勃发展的重要指标。
在1980年我第一次初识人工智能。在以后的这37年里我一直在人工智能这一领域从事研究、开发以及投资等相关的工作，我可以很确定的说，人工智能的革命性影响在规模上将会与工业革命旗鼓相当，也有可能它的影响力更为巨大，更加快速。
但是，我所说的并不是一个未来主义者对人工智能不切实际的讨论，这是一场工程师与工程师之间的谈话。作为工程师，我们知道人工智能是如何运作的，我们知道随着人工智能获得的数据越来越多，被使用的越来越多的话，他将会被迭代的更加完善。我们知道如何去推算、去衡量人工智能在10年后带来的影响。
让我们来看看，在这个时代人工智能能做什么吧。
如今，我正在投资一个人工智能图片处理公司，他们可以使人们的自拍变得更加漂亮。据我所知每一个中国的电影明星都决不允许他们在照片在未使用这个产品进行图片美化之前就发布。你能想到这个产品的基数有多大?答案是13亿。
如今，我在中国投资的一个人工智能信贷公司能在数秒之类完成一笔信贷业务，并且其坏账率要远低于一名信贷业务员需要数日才能审核完成的贷款申请。这家公司成立不到2年时1司，但仅仅今年一年的时间，就能完成大约3千万笔贷款业务，远超任何一家传统银行的数量。
如今，我正在投资的一家人工智能面部识别公司，这家公司的产品能够从3百万张面孔中识别出任何一张面孔，且其精准度要远超人类。假如将这个产品安装到全世界的机场周围，他就能够从根本上阻止已知的恐怖分子或者那些试图犯罪的人进入任何一架民航客机里。
以上这三家人工智能公司的总价值大约在100亿美金，但是这与未来10年里人工智能所创造的价值相比仅仅只是一个零头而已。
在未来10年里，所有的金融行业将会发生翻天覆地的变化，因为人工智能将会代替交易员、银行职员、会计、分析员以及保险公司。去年，我通过人工智能投资算法获得了比私人理财顾问高8倍的收益一这提醒了我，在回家之后我就可以将私人理财顾问给辞退了。
在下一个10年里，人工智能将可以替代大多数工厂里的员工、分析师、顾问以及中介。但是，人工智能也不会只是局限于简单的工作，人工智能也能替代很多新闻记者，医生以及老师。你的私人人工智能助理将会比你更加了解自己，诸如你今晚想吃什么，在这个假期里你应该去哪里度假，基至你应该和谁去约会。
但是，这不会就是人工智能的终点。在10年以后，机械化的人仁智能将会变得更加稳定可靠，人工智能在汽车驾驶方面将会比人类驾驶更加安全。即使现在还是很初级的Roomba在未来也会让我们刮目相看，他将学会做饭，洗衣服，做清洁及为人类分担所有繁重的家务。
在10年以后，人类将会进入一个仁足的时代，因为人工智能可以帮助人类创造巨大的价值，能极大的助我们消除贫穷及饥饿，而且我们也能通过人工智能获得更多的闲暇及自由，去做我们喜欢做的事情。
在10年以后，人类会进入一个迷惘且精神焦虑的时代，因为人工智能会取代人类一半的工作，很多人因为失业、得不到自我而变得失落。到那时，你们很多人都会为人父母，你们也必须想办法如何去提高孩子们的教育，以避免你们的孩子将会被人工智能所取代。
以上预测并不是基于人类所拥有的神经元数量与人工智能仿真所拥有的神经元数量之间的对比。相反，我的预测是一个工程师根据已知的算法、真实的市场供需情况及劳动市场得到的推论。
在创新工场，我们已经募得了超过10亿美金的人工智能研究投资资金。日本软银更是启动了一个1000亿美金的愿景基金。包括IBM、微软、谷歌、脸书过去50年里的科技巨头纷纷宣称他们是人工智能公司。因此，即便你今天会对我所说的产生怀疑，但是你大概不会怀疑所有这些科技巨头吧。
所以，对于你们这些站在科技前沿，绝顶聪明的工程师们，2027年将会是属于你们生命当中最为美好的时光。假如你们错过了这场人工智能的革命，未来你们可能落入人生的低谷。
那么，如何才能不至于错过这个人工智能时代，确保你能走向人生的巅峰呢?在此，我给大家三个建议。
首先要拥抱人工智能，调整你的职业方向，押注人工智能的必然性。就像所的重大变革一样，人工智能需要你有一个开放的心态，对于变革过程中所产生的恐惧绝对再正常不过。正如马克吐温曾说：“勇气是用来抵抗恐惧并掌控，并不是用来消除恐惧”。
你过去的努力已经为你在面对、欣然接纳或者热情拥抱未来的变化时做好的了备，这些改变将会推动你找到人生的方向。就考虑未来而言，你必须热情的拥抱人工智能，即便现在你所在的领域里你所遇到的人工智能工具是如此的脆弱，在数据的支撑之下它一定会变得更加强大。
上面我提到的三个人工智能软件公司。当他们第一次发布时真的时脆弱不堪，自拍软件反而将人拍的更丑，信贷软件由于坏账损失了几百万元，面部识别软件曾在识别我的时候错误的将我认为是某脱口秀的明星。但是随着时间的推移，更多数据的注入，人工智能的自学程序将会使这些产品取得变得更好至远超人类。
但是，人工智能不仅仅会变得更加强大，更重要的的是人工智能不会感到疲倦，没有情绪，不会罢工，他们还具有无限扩展的能力。
随着硬件、软件以及网络费用的降低，所有这些的支出将只有电费了。
因此，无论你选择在哪个领域深耕，首先要使用人工智能工具。如果你是一名软件工程师，使用人工智能工具来检查和优化你的代码，去寻找能够重复利用的代码，葚至是写入新的代码。在组建团队时，可以借助人工智能工具来招聘人员，如果你是自己开公司，你可以使用人工智能工具来管理订单并使利润最大化。使用人工智能工具来做客服以及你的销售人员。使用机器人生产商品，使用自动驾驶汽车来配送商品。
人类与人工智能的组合将会是1+l-3的效果。举例来说，当一个医生能正确的诊断癌症，并且能在100个人当中挽救70人的生命，一个早期的人工智能工具能
挽救100人中60人的生命，那么当他们组合到一起或许能挽救80人的生命。随着人工智能工具不断发展能挽救80人的生命时，那么人类与人工智能的结合或许能挽救90人的生命。因此，不要被动的接受人工智能，而是要主动拥抱入工智能，挖掘人工智能的潜力，去寻找每二种人工智能为你创造价值的可能性。学习人工智能，去找寻更加智慧的办法来构建人工智能与人类的共生关系。要像第个使用文字处理软件的记者，要像第一个使用数字表格的会计师，第二个使用Photoshop的摄影师一样，你们终会从人工智能身上获得收益。另外，相比传统工具，人工智能工具的发展更加迅速，应用范围更加广泛，只有学会使用，你的优势才会增长更快并越来越稳固。
我的第二个建议是：作为工程师你要提高自身的责任感。
我们都知道，几个世纪以来医生都在践行Hippocratic誓言，担负看神圣的救死扶伤的重大使命。在人工智能时代，相比医生的使命我认为工程师们需要承担的使命有过之而不及。
为什么这么说?因为作为顶尖学府的毕业生，身处人工智能时代，你们拥有巨大力量。但是请不要忘记了这个世界上最伟大的哲学家一蜘蛛侠的名言：“权利越大，责任越重”。
在人工智能时代，自主或者半自主的算法可以用来投资、照看儿童，汽车驾驶切及做手术。你们将会成为创造这些产品的一份子，这些产品将会影响人们的财产、健康或者是生命。
当然，作为工程师，我们不能丢弃我们的良心以及责任意识、我们需要更加纯粹的人格，更加勤奋以及遵守道德，这不仅仅是插在软件架构或者代码编写上，更重要的是在设计、测试、训练机器学习模型以及下戏更新配置参数上。
第二代安全气囊挽救了许多人的生命，但是也由于它们在设计以及使用说明上没有充分考虑儿重的娇小身躯，也意外的让一些儿童失去了生命，因此，你的首要责任是要对用户负责，要确保你的产品绝对安全，考虑周全并是有用的。而且相比产品安全，你也绝对有责任去预防和阻止潜在的技术失控给用户带来风险。因此，请大声的说对“自动杀人武器”，或者"用户隐私数据交易"说不。
其次，你要对你自己负责。在人工智能时代你不仅仅是与别人竞争，你同时也在和人工智能在竞争。你有责任去攻克疑难问题，而且要避免在机器就能够替代做到的事情上浪费时间。不要将你的天赋浪费在你在学校里就已经学到的知识上，不要轻易接受一项没有挑战的工作，无论身在哪一个领域一定要敢于冒险、勤于学习并严格要求自己，只有这样你才能成为最为独特及最有用的人。要坚持创造及创新，人工智能的伟大在于优化，但是人工智能并不善于发明新的东西。
作为工程师的你，最后的一份责任就是，要用你们的选择去努力使这个世界变得更加美好。选择去拯救生命而不是摧毁生命；选择去激励他人，而不是打击他们；选择去更有同情心而非贪婪的组织，选择为心怀世界和平而非妄图主宰世界的雇主工作。
我的最后一个建议就是：要追随你的内心。
在谈论了这么多严肃的技术性话题以后，接下来我想谈论的或许有一点不合时宜但是这绝对是我的肺腑之言。
4年前，我被诊断出换上4期淋巴癌，我当时面对着一个无情的现实，我的生命可能只剩下短短的几个月。
在这段前途未卜的时间里，我对生命思考良多，我最终意识到，我所有的成就，以及这个在等待30年之后才到来的人工智能时代对我来说没有了任何的意义。我也意识到我所追求的技术、产品、投资以及职业生涯，所有我重视的东西都出现了本末倒置。我忽视了我的家庭，我爸爸已经离开人世，而我的妈妈已经不能记得我是谁，我的孩子都己长大成人。
在我患病治疗期间，我读了Bronnie Ware写的二本书，这本书里记录了临终病人一生当中最为懊悔的事情。她说没有人会为年轻时不够努力工作，没有花更多时间在办公室里加班，或者拥有更多财产而感到懊悔，人们临终时最欣慰的是他们已经花了更多的时间陪伴、分享了更多的爱给所爱之人。
幸运的是，我现在已经康复了，因此我能站在这里和大家交谈。如今我会找更多的时间陪伴家人，我住的离我的母亲更近，无论是因为工作还是私人旅行，我会和我的太太一起去旅行。
我也会拿出更多的时间去联系更多的人，在周末时我会和朋友们一起去旅行，我带领公司的员工去硅谷进行为期二周的假期，我去约见那些在facebook上给我提问的年轻人，我去联系多年之前我多有冒犯的人，请求他们的谅解并建立友谊我写了一本、拍摄纪录片来分享在我与死神擦肩而过的的经历当中所学到的一切。
与死神擦肩而过的经历，不仅改变了我的生活也改变了我的价值观，这也让我对于人工智能对人类的意义有了日常清晰的认识。埃隆马斯克以及斯蒂芬霍金就已经给我们这种观点，他们认为机器将可以全面取代人类，而人类要么是控制AI，要不就是成为AI。
这段与死神擦肩而过的经历，让我对人工智能的未来有了另一种预测。毫无疑问，人工智能将会在某些分析型工作上凭借精准酌决策和成果打败人类，但是并不是这些工作让人类如这般模样，我们之所以能成为人类，是因为我们拥有爱的能力。
当我们注视着新生的宝宝时，当我们在一见钟情陷入爱河时，当朋友富有同情的倾听我们的时，当我们因为帮助别人而实现自我时，所有的这一切都向我们表明我们还远远不能了解人类的内心，更不要说要去复制入内心的信息。但是，我们知道爱和被爱的能力是我们人类所独有的，人们渴望爱与被爱，也正是因为爱与被爱才会让我们的生命更有意义。
有了如此信念，我们知道了我们该去做什么。最起码，我们要认识到我们是被爱着的，并且要感恩我们被爱的事实。假如，我们在回报爱的过程中做得更好，或者给别人回馈了更多的爱，最终我们会达到爱的最高境界。
好吧，让我们重新回到AI这个话题，是爱将人类与人工智能区分开来，抛开那些科幻小说里刻画的，我可以很负责任的告诉你人工智能不具有爱的能力，他们荏至没有感觉活着是自我意识。阿尔法狗也许能够战胜世界冠军，但是他们在玩这个游戏时无法感受快乐，无法以为胜利而高兴，也不会在胜利之后去拥抱所爱之入。
在未来，即便人工智能诊断工具能做到10倍于医生的精确程度，病患也不希望只是从诊断工具哪里获得诸如。你得了4期淋巴癌，你有70%的概率活不过5年。这样一种冷冰冰的诊断结果。病患需要二个充满爱的医生去聆听患者的抱怨，给与患者以信心。就像他会说：“李开复曾经也得了和你一样的病，但是他活过来了，我相信你也能做到”，医生也可以定期来家里给病人会诊，我么也能随时和医生沟通。这种充满爱的医生不仅会让我们感到舒坦，给我们更大信心，同时这种安慰剂效应的确可能会提高病患的康复机会。
这样也会解决我们之前提到的因为人工智能带来的失业问题，这种。关爱型医生。的数量将会远超现有医生的数量。那些失业的人可以致力于需要传播关爱以及分享经验的行业···例如做一名热情洋溢的导游，充满关爱的礼宾人员，一个搞笑的调酒师，个极具感染力的寿司厨师。至此伴随着各类拥有。关爱专家。头衔的人才辈出，也将会创造各种新兴的服务业出现。或许这种工作并不是真正意义上的工作，他们可能是孤儿院或养老院的志愿者，这些岗位将会为人类提供工作，并且这些工作是人工智能无法取代的。这些工作不仅能给人们带来强烈的自豪感和满足感，更重要的是，这将会给我们这个星球带来爱和欢乐。
我们已经建立了许多以任务为导向的人工智能工具，而且他们在这些方面确实要优于人脑。这正是我37年的前的梦想，作为一个计算机科学家，我为我们能走到今天这一步而感到自豪。但是，我似乎也意识到，也许我追逐的方向是错的，因为对于人类来说最重要的器官不是大脑而是心灵。
这对于我来说是一个教训，我也承认，我是花了如此长的时间才认识到这一点。因此，我对你们的期望是随着你们事业之花愈发芬芳，人生变得更加完善的时候，在实现人生目标时不仅要用到你们聪明的大脑，但更为重要的是要遵从自己的内心。
肩负未来，勇敢向前。但是我有信心，只要你能遵从内心，你就能顺利穿过充满荆除的前方，在此之上，用未来的10年时间成就最美好的你!
结束
Thank you, Class of 2017. Thank you so much for inviting me to speak at this wonderful commencement ceremony. It’s an honor to be back at Columbia to address this distinguished group of graduates, parents, siblings and special guests. We’ve all gathered to share in the joy of this day.
First, I want to say to you graduates: I am so proud of all of you. You did it! Your families are proud of you. You have earned this day.
I remember sitting where you are 34 years ago, feeling that these were the best years of my life. I found the profession of my life: artificial intelligence. I found the hobby of my life -- bridge; I played 30 hours a week, but to this date Columbia still wouldn’t give me a degree in it. And I had my first date while at Columbia, and she became the love of my life. And finally, on commencement day, I got to sit and listen to Isaac Asimov, the famous science fiction writer. I’m sorry that you only get m
Anyway, I had the best years of my life. This is where you expect me, or any commencement speaker to say, “These are the best years of your lives.” But I am not going to say that.
I know that these are far from the best years of your lives. I know that your best days are yet to come. To be specific, my hope for you is that the next 10 years will be the best years in your lives.
Why 10 years? 10 years seem so far away. But really it is not. Checking in with May 2007 seems like a good way to visualize what 10 years can do in our world.
It is interesting to remember that in 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. Back then, I was still using my Blackberry, and my wife was still using her Nokia.
And in 2007, a young senator Barack Obama, decided to run for President. And back in 2007, Donald Trump was still saying, “You are fired” rather than “Make America Great Again.”
So 10 years can do a lot, but the next 10 will do much much more than the last 10. Why? Because, the next decade will be the Age of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.
As students, you’ve probably seen AI course enrollment go from 80 to 800. And that certainly is one leading indicator.
I was introduced to AI at Columbia in 1980. As someone who has worked for 37 years on research, development, and investment in AI, I can speak with some authority that – AI will be a revolution on the scale of the Industrial Revolution, probably larger, and definitely faster.
But this is not a hand-wavy futurist AI talk. This is an engineer-to-engineer talk. We know that AI works. We know that AI gets better with more data and more use. We know how to extrapolate it to measure its impact in ten years.
Let’s first see what AI can do today.
Today, an AI image processing company that I invested in can make people’s selfies more beautiful, so much so that every Chinese movie star I know doesn’t allow her photo to be published without it. Its user base? 1.3 billion.
Today, an AI loan company that I invested in China can approve a loan in seconds, with a default rate much lower than a human loan officer who would takes days. This company is less than two years old, but will underwrite almost 30 million loans this year, more than almost any bank.
Today, an AI facial recognition company that I invested in can recognize any face from 3 million faces, with super-human accuracy. If installed in all the airports around the world, it would essentially prevent known terrorists or wanted criminals from entering any airplane.
These three AI companies are worth a total of about $10 billion. But that’s loose change compared to what can be built in the next 10 years.
In the next 10 years, all financial companies will be turned upside-down, with AI replacing traders, bankers, accountants, research analysts, and insurance companies. Last year, my AI investment algorithm returned 8 times more than my private banker. That reminds me – when I go home I am going to fire my private banker.
In the next 10 years, AI will replace most factory workers, assistants, advisors, and middlemen. But AI is not limited to simple jobs. AI will also replace many reporters, doctors, and teachers. Your AI assistant will know better than you what you would like to eat tonight, where you should go on vacation, and whom you should date.
But it doesn’t stop there. In 10 years, mechanical AI will become reliable. AI will be safer at driving cars than people, sweeping changes, as it were, brought by the lowly Roomba…. will grow up and cook, wash, clean and handle all the household drudgery for us.
In 10 years, because AI will make so much money for humanity, we will enter the Age of Plenty, making strides to eradicate poverty and hunger, and giving all of us more spare time and freedom to do what we love.
In 10 years, because AI will replace half of human jobs, we will enter the Age of Confusion, and many people will become depressed as they lose the jobs and the corresponding self-actualization. And many of you will become parents concerned with how to improve education in order to prevent your children from being replaced by AI.
These predictions are not based on some hand-wavy comparison of the number of neurons possessed by humans and AI simulators. Rather, they are based on an engineer’s extrapolation based on known algorithms, and the real marketplace and workforce.
In my company, we have raised over $1 billion to invest in these developments. Softbank has launched a $100 billion Vision Fund. The tech giants of the past 50 years – IBM, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, have all declared themselves to be AI companies. So even if you doubt me, you probably should not doubt all of them.
So, for leading edge, super smart engineers like yourselves, 2027 should be the best of times in your lives. Unless you miss the AI revolution, in which case it may turn into the worst times in your lives.
Now let me give you three pieces of advice – how not to miss the Age of AI, so that you can have the time of your life.
My first is: Embrace AI, and align your career by betting on its inevitability.
Like all big change, AI requires you to have an open mind. It’s OK to be fearful of change.
As Mark Twain explained, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear. Not absence of fear.”
Your hard work has prepared you to confront, or simply accept, or warmly embrace - change that will push you in new directions.
Given what lies ahead, you must warmly embrace AI. While the first AI tools in your industry may appear fragile, be assured they will get better with data.
The three software companies I mentioned earlier, when they were first launched: often made people uglier, lost millions in bad loans, and thought I was some talk show celebrity. But given time and much more data, their self-learning made them dramatically better than people. Not only are they better, they don’t get tired nor emotional. They don’t go on strike, and they are infinitely scalable.
With hardware, software, and networking costs coming down, all they cost is electricity.
So whatever domain you choose, be the first to use AI tools. If you’re a software engineer, use AI tools to check and optimize your code, to find re-usable code, or even to write new code. Use AI tools to hire and build your team. If you start your own company, use AI tools to manage your books and maximize your profits. Use AI tools to replace your customer support and your salespeople. Use robots to produce your goods and autonomous vehicles to deliver them.
The symbiotic combination of humans and AI is all about 1+1=3. For example, when a doctor can correctly diagnose cancer, and save 70 lives out of 100, and an early AI tool can save 60 lives out of 100 -- together perhaps they can save 80 lives. And when the AI tool improves to saving 80 lives, perhaps together they can save 90. So do not passively accept AI, but embrace AI, seek out AI, and find every which way that AI can help you. Learn AI, and find clever ways to build that symbiotic relationship earlier. Just like the reporter who first found word processing, the accountant who first used a spreadsheet, the first photographer who applied Photoshop, you will have an edge. In addition, AI will evolve faster and more broadly than these tools, and your edge will grow and become sustainable.
My second piece of advice is: Uphold your responsibility as an engineer.
We all know that for centuries physicians took the Hippocratic Oath, as a responsibility to treat human life as sacred. In the age of AI, I think engineers’ responsibilities are equally sacred, or even greater.
Why? Because as top engineering graduates from a top school, during the Age of AI, you are the ones with the power. But please remember what the world’s greatest philosopher, Spiderman, said: "with great power comes great responsibility."
In the Age of AI, autonomous and semi-autonomous algorithms will invest money, take care of children, drive cars, and conduct surgery. You will be the ones who build these products, which will impact people’s possessions, health, and even lives.
As engineers, we cannot abandon our conscience and sense of responsibility. We need to be thorough, diligent, and ethical, not just in the architecture and coding, but also in the design, in the testing, in running the machine learning training, and in downloading the updated parameters.
The first airbags saved many lives, but they also accidentally killed some children, due to the lack of adequate design and instructions that adequately considered children’s smaller size.
So your first responsibilities are to your users, to making your product safe, thoughtful, and usable. And more than “product safety.” You also have a responsibility to foresee and prevent the potential risks of technology to users from getting out of hand. So please speak up strongly against “autonomous weapons” or “bartering or sales of privacy data.”
Your second responsibility is to yourself. In the Age of AI, you are not just competing with other people, but also with AI. You have a responsibility to work on the hard problems, and avoid wasting your time doing what machines will be able to do. Don’t waste your talent repeating what you learned at school. Don’t accept a job that doesn’t challenge you. Take risks and learn vigorously and rigorously so that you can become the best in something specific and useful, whatever your field. Be creative and inventive. AI is great at optimizing, but AI cannot invent something new.
Your final responsibility is to make the world a better place with your choices as an engineer. Choose jobs that save lives, not destroy them. Choose jobs that empower people, not demoralize them. Work for organizations with more compassion than greed, and for people who care more about world peace than world domination.
And my last advice: Be in touch with your heart.
After all that serious tech talk, what I am going to talk about next may seem a little bit out-of place. But it comes from my heart.
Four years ago, I was diagnosed with 4th stage lymphoma. I faced the real possibility that my remaining time here was measured in months.
During that time of ultimate uncertainty, I thought a lot about my life. I came to realize that my accomplishments, and even the arrival of AI after waiting 30 years meant nothing to me.
I came to realize that by chasing these technologies, products, investments, and my career, my priorities were out-of-order. I neglected my family. My father had passed away. My mother barely remembered me. My kids had grown up.
One of the books I read during my illness was Bronnie Ware’s book about the regrets of people on their deathbeds. She found that no one wished they’d worked harder or spent more time at the office or accumulated more possessions. People’s top wish was that they had spent more time, sharing their love of their loved ones.
Fortunately, I am now in remission so I am here with you today. I am spending much more time with my family. I moved closer to my mother. I travel with my wife, whether on business or for pleasure. When my kids come home, I would take not two or three days off from work, but two or three weeks.
I also spent more time meaningfully connecting with more people. I spent weekends traveling with my best friends. I took my company on a one-week vacation to Silicon Valley -- their Mecca. I met with young people who sent me questions on Facebook. I reached out to people I offended years ago and asked for their forgiveness and friendship. I wrote a book and shot a documentary to share what I had learned from my near-death experience.
My near-death experience not only changed my life and my values, it gave me an enlightened view about what AI should mean for humanity. Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have given us their view, a view where machines supersede humans completely, and we are to control them or become them.
With my near-death experience, I would like to offer an alternate ending to their prediction of the AI future. Surely AI has, or will beat us on many analytical tasks with definitive decisions and outcomes. But these tasks are not what make us human. What makes us human is that we are able to love.
The moment when we see our new-born babies; the feeling of love-at-first-sight; the warm feeling from friends who listen to us empathetically; the feeling of self-actualization when we help someone in need. Or if you want empirical proof, the fact that the placebo effect works. These all demonstrate that we are far from understanding the human “heart”, let alone replicating it. But we do know that humans uniquely are able to love and be loved. Humans want to love and be loved. That loving and being loved are what makes our lives worthwhile.
With this belief, we now know what we must do. At a minimum, recognize and be thankful that we are loved. If we can do better, return the love, and maybe a little bit more. Finally, the highest level of love: Pay it forward. Give love unconditionally.
Coming back to our AI theme, love differentiates us from AI. Despite what science fiction movies may portray, I can tell you responsibly that AI programs cannot love. They don’t even have feelings or self-consciousness. AlphaGo may beat the world champion, but it has no fun playing the game, feels no happiness from winning, has no desire to hug a loved one after it wins.
And in the future, even if an AI diagnostic tool is 10 times more accurate than doctors, patients will not want a cold pronouncement from the tool: “you have 4th stage lymphoma and a 70% likelihood of dying within 5 years.” Patients will want a “doctor of love” who listens to our complaints, gives us encouragement, like “Kai-Fu had the same lymphoma, and he survived, so you can too”, and perhaps visits us at home, and is always available to talk to us. This kind of “doctor of love” will not only make us feel better, and have greater confidence, but a placebo effect will kick in and increase our likelihood of recuperation.
This will solve the AI employment problem we mentioned earlier. The number of “doctors of love” will outnumber today’s doctors. The displaced workers can take up careers spreading love and experiences – whether a passionate tour guide, an attentive concierge, a funny bartender, an infectious sushi chef. With the new “experts of love” titles many new kind of service jobs will be created. And they don’t have to be “jobs”, they can be volunteers, at an orphanage or a retirement home. This will give people jobs that AI cannot take away. They will do the job with pride and a strong sense of self-actualization. Most importantly, this will fill our planet with love and joy.
We’ve built many task-oriented AI that is much better than our brains. That was my dream 37 years ago. As a hard-core computer scientist, I’m proud that we’ve come so far. But now I realize that I went after the wrong organ. The most important part of the human body is not the brain, but the heart.
That’s a lesson that took me, I confess, too long to learn. My hope for all of you, as your careers blossom and your lives take shape, is that you will approach your lives with all the brains you certainly have, but also, above all, with all the heart you can muster.
It will be up to you to carry this forward, but I have confidence: if you let your heart be your guide, you’ll find your way through all of the massive changes that lie ahead, and make the next 10 years the best years of your lives.
Thank you, Class of 2017.
The End
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