A 1983 presentation by Apple founder Steve Jobs reveals that he had foreseen the advent of AI chatbots, a technology that is now transforming the world.
What Happened: According to a digital exhibit from the Steve Jobs Archive, which features footage from a talk Jobs delivered at the International Design Conference in Aspen in 1983, Jobs spoke about the potential of a technology capable of answering questions and thinking like a human.
Jobs compared this technology to a book, which he termed as a “phenomenal thing” that could go “right from the source to the destination without anything in the middle,” reported Business Insider.
However, he identified the absence of interaction as a limitation and envisioned a future where machines could embody an “underlying spirit” or “set of principles.”
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“I think as we look towards the next 50 to 100 years, if we really can come up with these machines that can capture an underlying spirit, or an underlying set of principles, or an underlying way of looking at the world, then when the next Aristotle comes around, maybe if he carries around one of these machines with him his whole life, his or her whole life, and types in all this stuff, then maybe someday after the person is dead and gone, we can ask this machine, ‘Hey, what would Aristotle have said? What about this,'” he said in the footage.
Fast forward to the present, AI firms are creating chatbots such as ChatGPT that can respond to user inquiries, occasionally even mimicking renowned historical figures.
Why It Matters: The prediction made by Jobs over four decades ago underscores his visionary thinking and the foresight he had about the future of technology.
The emergence and advancement of AI chatbots today are a testament to Jobs’ prediction and reflect his profound understanding of technology and its potential impact on society.
The fact that Jobs’ vision is being realized today, over 40 years later, speaks volumes about his innovative mindset and his ability to foresee technological trends.
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This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Flickr/ Tom Coates
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