What role will artificial intelligence play in our future?

The rate of change is accelerating, largely driven by our access to technology and visionary thinkers who are challenging commonly held perceptions of systems.

The future excites me and I enjoy learning from people who are pushing boundaries, asking us to open our eyes, and sharing ideas which at a first glance seem hugely unrealistic. Did you ever think that we would be having conversations about living on Mars or driverless cars in the very near future? Did you ever think that a computer may be able to interpret your shopping habits and provide you with your weekly groceries or monthly clothes shopping?

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are two topics that are hotly debated. There are views both for and against their use, but the reality is that they are here. The question is now how can we use them to our advantage and what impact will they have on our future?

In a live debate in Shanghai, Alibaba co-founder and executive chairman Jack Ma and Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed artificial intelligence.

Watch it here.

It is fascinating to be able to tune in from South Africa and hear two great luminaries in the tech space share their views. We certainly don’t have all the answers to what the future holds and collaboration will play a massive role in allowing us to navigate it.

Ma ended the session with two powerful points which stood out for me.

“Smart people know what they want and how they can get it, wise people know what they don’t want”

“Let’s talk responsibility for today and let’s not take away all the solutions for tomorrow”

You may also find the work being done by Neuralink interesting if you are fascinated by future thinking.