We may look at our time as the moment civilization was transformed as it was by fire, agriculture, and electricity.
In 2023, we learned that a machine taught itself to speak to humans like a peer, Which is to say, with creativity, truth, errors, and lies.
The technology, known as a chatbot, is only one of the recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence — machines that can teach themselves superhuman skills. In April, we explored what's next at Google, a leader in this new world. CEO Sundar Pichai told us AI would be as good or evil as human nature allows.
The revolution, he says, is coming faster than you know.
Scott Pelley: Do you think society is prepared for what's coming?
Sundar Pichai: There are two ways I think about it. On the one hand, no, because, you know, the pace at which we can think and adapt as societal institutions, compared to the pace at which the technology's evolving, there seems to be a mismatch.
On the other hand, compared to any other technology, I've seen more people worried about it earlier in its life cycle. So I feel optimistic.
The number of people, you know, who have started worrying about the implications, and hence the conversations are also starting severely.
Our conversations with 50-year-old Sundar Pichai started at Google's new Mountain View, California campus. It runs on 40% solar power and collects more water than it uses — high-tech that Pichai couldn't have imagined growing up in India with no telephone at home.
Sundar Pichai: We were on a waiting list to get a rotary phone for about five years.
It finally came home. I can still recall it vividly. It changed our lives. It was the first moment I understood the power of getting access to technology, and so it probably led me to be doing what…