Skip to main content

Remembering Former Academy Board Member Jim Simons

A headshot of a man wearing a suit.

The New York Academy of Sciences is saddened to learn about the passing of James “Jim” Simons, a former Board member and longtime supporter of the Academy.

Simons was an award-winning mathematician, a legend in quantitative investing, and an inspired and generous philanthropist. He and his wife established the Simons Foundation to promote scientific and mathematical research. Their support led to breakthroughs in our understanding of autism, the origins of the universe, cellular biology and computational science.

Earlier in his career he founded Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund that pioneered quantitative trading and became one of the most profitable investment firms in history. He also previously chaired the math department at Stony Brook University in New York.

He served on the Academy’s Board of Governors from 1998 to 2001 and was a longtime benefactor of the Academy’s efforts to promote science for the public good. Simons was 86 years old.

Innovations in AI and Higher Education

Innovations in AI and Higher Education

From the future of higher education to regulating artificial intelligence (AI), Reid Hoffman and Nicholas Dirks had a wide-ranging discussion during the first installment of the Authors at the Academy series.

Published April 12, 2024

By Nick Fetty

It was nearly a full house when authors Nicholas Dirks and Reid Hoffman discussed their respective books during an event at The New York Academy of Sciences on March 27, 2024.

Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn as well as Inflection AI and currently serves as a partner at Greylock, discussed his book Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI. Dirks, who spent a career in academia before becoming President and CEO of the Academy, focused on his recently published book City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University. Their discussion, the first installment in the Authors at the Academy series, was largely centered on artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will impact education, business and creativity moving forward.

The Role of Philosophy

The talk kicked off with the duo joking about the century-old rivalry between the University of California-Berkeley, where Dirks serves on the faculty and formerly served as chancellor, and Stanford University, where Hoffman earned his undergraduate degree in symbolic systems and currently serves on the board for the university’s Institute for Human-Centered AI. From Stanford, Hoffman went to Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar to study philosophy. He began by discussing the role that his background in philosophy has played throughout his career.

“One of my conclusions about artificial intelligence back in the day, which is by the way still true, is that we don’t really understand what thinking is,” said Hoffman, who also serves on the Board of Governors for the Academy. “I thought maybe philosophers understand what thinking is, they’ve been at it a little longer, so that’s part of the reason I went to Oxford to study philosophy. It was extremely helpful in sharpening my mind toolset.”

Public Intellectual Discourse

He encouraged entrepreneurs to think about the theory of human nature in the work they’re doing. He said it’s important to think about what they want for the future, how to get there, and then to articulate that with precision. Another advantage of a philosophical focus is that it can strengthen public intellectual discourse, both nationally and globally, according to Hoffman.

“It’s [focused on] who are we and who do we want to be as individuals and as a society,” said Hoffman.

Early in his career, Hoffman concluded that working as a software entrepreneur would be the most effective way he could contribute to the public intellectual conversation. He dedicated a chapter in his book to “Public Intellectuals” and said that the best way to elevate humanity is through enlightened discourse and education, which was the focus of a separate chapter in his book.

Rethinking Networks in Academia

The topic of education was an opportunity for Hoffman to turn the tables and ask Dirks about his book. Hoffman asked Dirks how institutions of higher education need to think about themselves as nodes of networks and how they might reinvent themselves to be less siloed.

Dirks mentioned how throughout his life he’s experienced various campus structures and cultures from private liberal arts institutions like Wesleyan University, where Dirks earned his undergraduate degree, and STEM-focused research universities like Cal Tech to private universities in urban centers (University of Chicago, Columbia University) and public, state universities (University of Michigan, University of California-Berkeley).

While on the faculty at Cal Tech, Dirks recalled he was encouraged to attend roundtables where faculty from different disciplines would come together to discuss their research. He remembered hearing from prominent academics such as Max Delbrück, Richard Feynman, and Murray Gell-Mann. Dirks, with a smile, pointed out the meeting location for these roundtables was featured in the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop.

An Emphasis on Collaboration in Higher Education

Dirks said that he thinks the collaborative culture at Cal Tech enabled these academics to achieve a distinctive kind of greatness.

“I began to see this is kind of interesting. It’s very different from the way I’ve been trained, and indeed anyone who has been trained in a PhD program,” said Dirks, adding that he often thinks about a quote from a colleague at Columbia who said, “you’re trained to learn more and more about less and less.”

Dirks said that the problem with this model is that the incentive structures and networks of one’s life at the university are largely organized around disciplines and individual departments. As Dirks rose through the ranks from faculty to administration (both as a dean at Columbia and as chancellor at Berkeley), he began gaining a bigger picture view of the entire university and how all the individual units can fit together. Additionally, Dirks challenged academic institutions to work more collaboratively with the off-campus world.

“A Combination of Competition and Cooperation”  

Dirks then asked Hoffman how networks operate within the context of artificial intelligence and Silicon Valley. Hoffman described the network within the Valley as “an intense learning machine.”

“It’s a combination of competition and cooperation that is kind of a fierce generator of not just companies and products, but ideas about how to do startups, ideas about how to scale them, ideas of which technology is going to make a difference, ideas about which things allow you to build a large-scale company, ideas about business models,” said Hoffman.

During a recent talk with business students at Columbia University, Hoffman said he was asked about the kinds of jobs the students should pursue upon graduation. His advice was that instead of pinpointing specific companies, jobseekers should choose “networks of vibrant industries.” Instead of striving for a specific job title, they should instead focus on finding a network that inspires ingenuity.

“Being a disciplinarian within a scholarly, or in some case scholastic, discipline is less important than [thinking about] which networks of tools and ideas are best for solving this particular problem and this particular thing in the world,” said Hoffman. “That’s the thing you should really be focused on.”

The Role of Language in Artificial Intelligence

Much of Hoffman’s book includes exchanges between him and ChatGPT-4, an example of a large language model (LLM). Dirks points out that Hoffman uses GPT-4 not just an example, but as an interlocutor throughout the book. By the end of the book, Dirks observed that the system had grown because of Hoffman’s inputs.

In the future, Hoffman said he sees LLMs being applied to a diverse array of industries. He used the example of the steel industry, in areas like sales, marketing, communications, financial analysis, and management.

“LLMs are going to have a transformative impact on steel manufacturing, and not necessarily because they’re going to invent new steel manufacturing processes, but [even then] that’s not beyond the pale. It’s still possible,” Hoffman said.

AI Understanding What Is Human

Hoffman said part of the reason he articulates the positives of AI is because he views the general discourse as so negative. One example of a positive application of AI would be having a medical assistant on smartphones and other devices, which can improve medical access in areas where it may be limited. He pointed out that AI can also be programmed as a tutor to teach “any subject to any age.”

“[AI] is the most creative thing we’ve done that also seems to have potential autonomy and agency and so forth, and that causes a bunch of very good philosophical questions, very good risk questions,” said Hoffman. “But part of the reason I articulate this so positively is because…[of] the possibility of making things enormously better for humanity.” 

Hoffman compared the societal acceptance of AI to automobiles more than a century ago. At the outset, automobiles didn’t have many regulations, but as they grew in scale, laws around seatbelts, speed limits, and driver’s licenses were established. Similarly, he pointed to weavers who were initially wary of the loom before understanding its utility to their work and the resulting benefit to broader society.

“AI can be part of the solution,” said Hoffman. “What are the specific worries in navigation toward the good things and what are the ways that we can navigate that in good ways. That’s the right place for a critical dialogue to happen.”

Regulation of AI

Hoffman said because of the speedy rate of development of new AI technologies, it can make effective regulation difficult. He said it can be helpful to pinpoint the two or three most important risks to focus on during the navigation process, and if feasible to fix those issues down the road.

Carbon emissions from automobiles was an example Hoffman used, pointing out that emissions weren’t necessarily on the minds of engineers and scientists when the automobile was being developed, but once research started pointing to the detrimental environmental impacts of carbon in the atmosphere, governments and companies took action to regulate and reduce emissions.

“[While] technology can help to create a problem, technologies can also help solve those problems,” Hoffman said. “We won’t know they’re problems until we’re into them and obviously we adjust as we know them.”

Hoffman is currently working on another book about AI and was invited to return to the Academy to discuss it once published.

For on-demand video access to the full event, click here.

Register today if you’d like to attend these upcoming events in the Authors at the Academy series:

Q&A with Academy Board Member Katherine B. Forrest

Katherine B. Forrest is a Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and also a member of the Board of Governors for The New York Academy of Sciences. With an extensive background in law, government and social sciences, she brings unique insight to the Board. We interviewed her to learn more about her background, why she chose to get involved with the Academy, and why she’s passionate about artificial intelligence.

*some quotes have been edited for length and clarity


What does being a member of the Academy’s Board mean to you?

In 2023, I became a member of the Academy’s Board. It’s an extraordinary honor, as someone who has spent my professional life in areas that are considered to be essentially non-scientific. I was trained as a lawyer. I became a judge for a period of time and a government official. But my interests have tended towards technology, and particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and ethics.

Understanding that The New York Academy of Sciences had a broad enough tent to be able to take that in as part of its overall interest in terms of what it wanted represented on the Board of Governors was thrilling to me. For me, it’s one of my crowning achievements to be able to have an organization like The New York Academy of Sciences recognize the work that I have done by virtue of reaching out and suggesting that I have something to contribute to the Board of Governors.

When did you first become interested in the Academy’s work?

I became aware of the work of The New York Academy of Sciences through a number of people that I ran into in the field of AI, working with a variety of researchers where my work overlapped. I also felt like it was not something that many of my social science colleagues necessarily knew about. I became interested in the Academy’s work around 2007 or 2008 when the Internet was hot and heavy and there was a lot of work being done on Internet issues in the digital transformation.

The Academy was involved in a variety of conferences relating to that. And then, of course, my dear friend, David Mordecai is on the Board of Governors. We teach a class together at NYU Law School on quantitative methods, and so he was the one who actually introduced me to the Board of Governors.

How does your personal or professional background inform your commitment to the Academy?

My professional background today is focused on artificial intelligence strategic and advisory work for a broad array of clients. What I am passionate about is staying on top of the technology, and what I try to bring to my clients is not just a newsletter with legal or strategic advice, but an understanding of the technology, in particular, how some of the technological advances in AI can raise ethical issues, compliance issues, governance issues, strategic concerns, and things of that nature.

What I like to do is to have my personal work, which is now oriented towards science, but also with the law in there, which informs what I do every day. My commitment is to bring to the Board of Governors a different perspective. The kind of perspective of someone who is both a lawyer but working in the AI area and able to bring science and law together in a way that can hopefully be of help to the Board.

Is there one Academy program or initiative that gets you the most jazzed up?

It’s the umbrella of different kinds of AI initiatives that are occurring at the Academy that really gets me jazzed up. I think the Academy has an awful lot to offer in terms of speakers that we bring in. Yann LaCun presented about a week or so ago. We have all kinds of young thinkers and researchers whose work we support through programs, events, and other efforts related to AI.

New York City is the hub of some real research. It’s not just in Silicon Valley. In particular, downtown Manhattan is a hot spot for AI research. I think the Academy can lead the way when discussing and advancing the very complicated ethical issues that we’re going to be confronting in the years to come.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

One of the extraordinary things about the Academy, and being on the Board of Governors, is to see the array of talent both through our leadership at the Academy itself, and on the Board of Governors. It’s incredible to see the number of highly accomplished individuals in science or science-adjacent areas, like the social sciences, who bring a lot of these issues that we’re working on to the forefront. The Academy has an unparalleled array of talent, and I am just very honored to be able to be a part of that.


“New York City is the hub of some real research. It’s not just in Silicon Valley. In particular, downtown Manhattan is a hot spot for AI research. I think the Academy can lead the way when discussing and advancing the very complicated ethical issues that we’re going to be confronting in the years to come.”

-KATHERINE B. FORREST
PARTNER, PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
BOARD OF GOVERNORS, THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


Q&A with Academy Board Member Peter Thorén

Peter Thorén is Executive Vice President of Access Industries and a member of the Board of Governors for The New York Academy of Sciences. With an extensive background in law and business, he brings a valuable perspective to the Board. We interviewed him to learn more about his background, what he’s learned from working with scientists, and why he chose to get involved with the Academy.

*some quotes have been edited for length and clarity


What does being a member of the Board of the Academy mean to you?

First and foremost, I’m extremely proud to be a member of the Board for The New York Academy of Sciences. I am not a scientist by training, but I have great respect and admiration for what talented scientists can do. The brilliance of science is producing solutions to problems and making the world better. Being a Board member for the Academy enables me to assist in that process in any way I can. This is both a privilege and an honor, and I appreciate the opportunity.

How did you first become interested in the Academy’s work?

I first became involved around 2004, when the Academy was still located up on East 63rd Street, on the Upper East Side, and Ellis Rubinstein was the President. At that time, the Academy was going through a bit of a financial issue and was considering selling their building.

Access Industries ended up buying the Academy building and, through the process of negotiating the deal, we got to know Ellis and the Academy well. Ellis, in turn, got to know Len Blavatnik, the Founder of Access Industries. In 2005, Ellis, Len, and I attended the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm with our wives. From there, the relationship with the Academy and the growth of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists took off. So that’s the genesis of my relationship with the Academy and I have been on the Board ever since. I marvel at the Academy’s growth and expansion over that time.

How does your personal and professional background inform your commitment to the Academy?

I’m a lawyer and a businessman by training and it’s what I’ve done for the last 45 years. Over the years, I’ve learned that the more interested you are in the world around you, the more creative you become, the more innovative you are in your thought process and the more successful you are in your career and life in general. This process applies to the way the Academy, and the many talented individuals we associate with at the Academy, think. It defines how they look at problems and identify solutions to seemingly insurmountable issues. This creative approach benefits everyone but particularly those of us who are on the periphery of science and who benefit from what is being done within the Academy and other scientific institutions.

Which is the one Academy program or initiative that excites you the most. And why?

Well, there are many wonderful initiatives and programs at the Academy. But clearly, the one nearest to my heart, given the fact that I was there from the beginning in 2007 and have watched it grow over the years, is the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. We started with the regional awards for postdocs in the tri-state area, then that grew into the national award for faculty-ranked scientists and engineers throughout the entire United States. Then, in 2017, we expanded the awards further to honor faculty-ranked researchers in Israel and the United Kingdom.

By the end of 2024, we’ll have recognized 470 young scientists from more than 35 different scientific and engineering disciplines and have provided over $17 million in unrestricted awards. Being able to support young scientists early in their career, and to give them the confidence, the recognition, and an extra push forward to do even greater things, is wonderful. Of all the different things I do on a philanthropic side as head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, being part of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists is the most fun, the most interesting, and the most rewarding. I’m proud and honored to work alongside Len Blavatnik and the talented and enthusiastic people at the Academy who make this possible.


“I have great respect and admiration for what talented scientists can do. The brilliance of science is producing solutions to problems and making the world better. Being a Board member for the Academy enables me to assist in that process in any way I can.”

-Peter Thorén
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, ACCESS INDUSTRIES
BOARD MEMBER, THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


Peter L. Thorén

Executive Vice President
Access Industries

I have great respect and admiration for what talented scientists can do. The brilliance of science is producing solutions to problems and making the world better. Being a Board member for the Academy enables me to assist in that process in any way I can.

Q&A with Academy Board Member Grace Wang

Grace Wang is the President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and also a member of the Board of Governors for The New York Academy of Sciences. With an extensive background in STEM, she brings a valuable perspective to the Board, helping to guide the Academy in its decision-making. We interviewed her to learn more about her background, what motivates her, and why she chose to get involved with the Academy.

*some quotes have been edited for length and clarity


What does being a member of the Board of the Academy mean to you?

I’m very proud of my association with The New York Academy of Sciences. I’m an engineer and have spent my whole career in STEM education and research in academia, industry, as well as government. The New York Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the world. It’s had a tremendous legacy and a lasting impact, so I’m very proud to be part of this organization through being a board member. It’s personal and very meaningful to me.

The New York Academy of Sciences looks to the future and continues to empower the next generation of STEM professionals. As the science and technology landscape rapidly evolves, this is particularly an exciting time to be part of the Academy.

How did you first become interested in the Academy’s work?

I became a member in 2018 when I was working at the State University of New York (SUNY), and I’ve been familiar with what the Academy does. My former Chancellor at SUNY, Dr. Nancy Zimpher, was a previous member of the Academy’s Board. I learned some about the Academy’s mission through her — she was very enthusiastic about her involvement.

How did either your professional or your personal background inform your commitment to the Academy?

WPI is a STEM university and focuses on enabling not only the future STEM professionals, but also the future STEM leaders. We are very proud to provide distinctive STEM education through project-based learning. Today, over 85 percent of our students can have off-site project experience – they work on real-world problems in real-world settings – at one of our over 50 global project centers. Through this transformative experience, our students learn to be great team players, communicators, problem solvers, and value creators. They are prepared to be future STEM leaders. The Academy’s mission resonates strongly with what we do at WPI.

Of all the various things that the Academy does and the various programs, is there a particular program or initiative that excites you more than the others? Why is that?

I am excited about the Science Alliance program. It supports emerging STEM leaders and continues cultivating their passion in STEM fields.

I also like the Academy’s awards programs. They not only recognize star researchers, which of course is important; but beyond that, they also inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers to explore research frontiers and pursue their careers in STEM.


“The New York Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the world. It’s had a tremendous legacy and also a lasting impact, so I’m very proud to be part of this organization through being a board member. It’s personal and very meaningful to me.”

DR. GRACE WANG
PRESIDENT, WORCHESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
BOARD MEMBER, THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


Grace Wang

President
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

The New York Academy of Sciences looks to the future and continues to empower the next generation of STEM professionals. As the science and technology landscape rapidly evolves, this is particularly an exciting time to be part of the Academy.

Jerry and Jill Hultin

Chair and Co-Founder
Global Futures Group, LLC

As Chair of the Board of Governors, Jill and I are thrilled to support The New York Academy of Sciences’ renewed drive to create a positive impact and encourage science-informed decision-making to address the most challenging problems of our times.

Investing in Teachers Yields Smart Returns for Students

A teacher and students inside a high school science lab.

Developing a strong future workforce starts with training teachers to be confident in their instruction of computer science, starting in students’ early school years.

Contributed by Ravi Kumar S.
President, Infosys Ltd. and Chairperson, Infosys Foundation USA

Ravi Kumar S
President, Infosys Ltd. and Chairperson Infosys Foundation USA

Over the past few years, there has been growing acknowledgment that it is important to make computer science a core component of K-12 education. And how could there not be? With 500,000 jobs currently available in the computing sector and projections that these jobs will grow at twice the rate of others, there is no ignoring that computer science is not just the future of work, but very much the present.

K-12 education should be setting our children up for postsecondary success, but multiple studies show that if students are not meaningfully exposed to STEM subjects by middle school, especially girls, they will never take an interest in them later on. How do we ensure that our children study these subjects early and continue them into their careers?

The answer is training teachers. Too often we bypass these critical members of our workforce, but that is a mistake. The average teacher will reach thousands of students throughout their career so their potential for impact in the classroom is huge. Developing a strong future workforce starts with learning computer science at a young age, and that means training and retaining confident teachers.

Here are five ways to make computer science professional development effective for teachers:

1. Offer multi-day trainings through multiple channels

Computer science can be challenging and intimidating. In order to get teachers more comfortable and familiar with the material, professional development should be sustained for multiple days rather than a one-day meeting or a single intervention seminar so they gain the confidence and competence to stand in front of their classes and teach the subject. Additionally, in-person trainings should be supplemented by online resources and coursework so teachers can continue to develop their skills and increase their facility with these concepts. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) outlines specific requirements for professional development and underscores the importance of sustained Professional Development (PD).

2. Create a community

Creating a community is key when it comes to teaching computer science, especially for teachers who are new to the subject. Successful PD should foster peer networks through online forums that encourage teachers to connect with one another, ask questions and share best practices so that success is shared across schools and states, and pain points can be worked through collaboratively.

3. Keep it collaborative and hands-on

Computer science is collaborative, so learning how to teach it should be as well. Beyond the hard-technical skills that are gained from the subject, students and teachers alike will benefit from a wide array of soft-skills — creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration. And these skills are necessary for all disciplines, so the applications are much wider than just the computing space. Furthermore, group learning helps to strengthen the community that teachers will walk away with once the PD is over.

4. Offer variety

Just like math, science or history, computer science covers a multitude of skills and subject areas, so there is no one-size-fits-all course when it comes to PD. In order to successfully integrate computer science principles across grade-levels and skill-levels, there needs to be a diverse offering so every teacher can find something that is relevant to their grade, ability and comfort-level.

5. Make it classroom relevant and contextual

PD should go beyond abstract theories and concepts, and the content should be relevant for the context in which it will be used. This means teachers should receive tools, such as lesson plans, teaching guides and other resources to support classroom instruction, and the materials should be adaptable to real-life scenarios and common core subjects so all students can take interest in what they are learning.

Underinvesting in the PD of teachers hinders the growth of our students. But if we ensure that teachers have the confidence and tools they need to bring the principles of computer science into the classroom, it will reverberate through to their students and help to light a spark in all students and build a healthy pipeline of tech talent for the future.

How Can Humans Compete with Artificial Intelligence?

A graphic illustration of a human brain, meant to represent artificial intelligence.

The Intelligence Revolution raises fundamental questions about what it means to be human.

By Jerry Hultin, Chair, The New York Academy of Sciences Board of Governors

Machine learning. Advanced manufacturing. Autonomous vehicles. Robotics. Drones. Welcome to the rise of smart machines! This revolution — let’s call it the Intelligence Revolution — offers the world benefit and harm at a scale exceeding that of the three earlier Industrial Revolutions. But it also raises fundamental questions about what it means to be human.

Will science and technology of the 21st century make us irrelevant? Will this lead to massive social unrest when smart machines take worker’s jobs? More fundamentally, how will a world operate where everyone may have the luxury of leisure, but not the economic resources to enjoy it?

In 2017, I chaired a study into the impact of artificial intelligence and automation on the Pentagon’s “business processes.” Based on what corporations in America have already achieved, we estimated that the U.S. Department of Defense could save nearly $60 billion a year by using the existing tools of automation and artificial intelligence.

The Growing Role of Automation in the Workplace

In addition, the quality and speed of decision-making in the Pentagon would be quantitatively better. Conversely we cautioned that the job losses and the redistribution of work functions would be huge. Thus the Pentagon would face a major challenge in finding jobs and providing training for the thousands of displaced employees.

According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report on the growing role of automation in the workplace, at least 30 percent of the predominantly repetitive, routine and physical activities in 60 percent of current jobs can be automated. With efficiency gains and cost reduction of such magnitude the commercial, industrial, healthcare and construction industries will see AI and the automation that springs from AI, as compelling.

So how will the accelerating application of AI play out around the world? Here in the United States, the people most at risk include 14.7 million young workers, 11.5 million workers over age 50 and 11.9 million Hispanic and African-American workers. This accounts for more than 20 percent of the full-time employees in the United States. Amazon, which attributes the success of its one-day shipping to AI, is now committing some $700 million to retrain or up-skill its workers for the increasing technical demands of new jobs that will help them stay ahead of displacement by AI.

Automation Implications in India, Africa

But what about a country like India? With a population over 1.3 billion, nearly 750 million young people under the age of thirty, and an overall literacy rate of 71 percent, India is striving to radically increase jobs and reduce its level of poverty. But India may not get this chance if automated technologies supplant available jobs.

Much the same can be said about the future fate of Africa as its population of approximately 1 billion people grows to 2 billion by 2050. If Africa only has access to the educational and economic tools available today, the likelihood that it can match the growth rates of China and other Asian nations is remote.

The challenges presented by AI require a fundamental reworking of key components of how we learn and live. A recent Atlantic Monthly “conversation” between Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt and Dan Huttenlocher about the future of AI concluded with the following:

The three of us differ in the extent to which we are optimists about AI. But we agree that it is changing human knowledge, perception, and reality — and, in so doing, changing the course of human history. We seek to understand it and its consequences, and encourage others across disciplines to do the same.

Looking Ahead

Fortunately, the Academy under Ellis Rubinstein’s leadership has taken seriously the importance of increasing scientific and technological skills among young people around the world. Propelled by his concerns about their future prosperity and security, Ellis enlisted the business community, NGOs and philanthropists, in an unprecedented series of cooperative programs designed to increase skills. Through the collective action of our partners, benefactors and Members, we can lead a global conversation to better understand, develop and employ the power of AI.