Twelve Quotes About AI—And How It Makes Us Better

The greatest technology in the world hasn’t replaced the ultimate relationship-building tool between a customer and a business: the human touch.

I came up with this quote and posted it on Twitter (now X) on September 1, 2013, nearly 13 years ago. AI (Artificial Intelligence), was a misunderstood concept, at least from the public’s point of view, mostly because it was only identified as something out of a science fiction movie.

Then along came OpenAI and ChatGPT. While companies had been integrating AI into their software solutions for years, ChatGPT made AI go mainstream. It’s almost impossible to go a day without hearing those initials, AI, or being exposed to something that was created or supported by AI. It really is life-changing, right up there with the wheel, the printing press, electricity, the phone, the internet and the microchip.

I’m a very optimistic person, and when people express fear that AI is going to destroy humanity, I take a completely different approach, as I’ve written numerous times in this weekly column. So, with that in mind, I thought it would be an interesting assignment to find out what business leaders and educators have been saying about AI. I “scoured the internet” and came up with a few good ones from some famous (and not so famous) people.

AI Is Here, So Accept It

You can’t ignore AI. Doing so could be detrimental to your business and personal life. You don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to accept that this technology is here.

• AI won’t replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace those who don’t—Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI
• No company is going to survive in the future without understanding AI—David Gasparyan, CEO, Phonexa
• If you don’t have an AI strategy, you’re going to die in the world that’s coming—Devin Wenig, former CEO, eBay
• Artificial intelligence will be the most transformative technology of the 21st century—Jensen Huang, CEO, NVIDIA
• With AI, we have the opportunity to create a future that is brighter for all—Jeff Bezos, founder, Amazon

AI Can Make Us Better

The next three quotes remind us that using AI is about making us more productive, capable and efficient. Sometimes faster is better, and AI can create efficiencies that free us up to work on more important aspects of our business and personal lives.

• AI is about amplifying human potential, not replacing it—Fe-Fei Li, professor, Stanford University
• AI is a tool. The choice about how it gets deployed is ours—Oren Etzioni, AI researcher
• AI is a mirror, reflecting our intellect and our values—Ravi Narayanan, VP, Nisum

For Those Who Fear AI

Many people fear the unknown. While we may know what AI does, or at least we think we do, many worry about what an AI world will look like in the future. Many of the fears come from the reference point mentioned earlier in the article, scary science fiction movies. (Notice this time I added the adjective scary.) Movies like iRobot, starring Will Smith, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, featuring HAL 9000 (an AI-fueled/programmed computer) and directed by Stanley Kubrick, are where this fear comes from.

• AI is not a robotic apocalypse; it’s a tool for a better future—Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of DeepMind
• The true power of AI lies not in replacing humans, but in working alongside us to achieve what neither can do alone—Sebastian Thrun, AI pioneer
• By far, the greatest danger of AI is that people conclude too early that they understand it—Eliezer Yudkowsky, AI researcher

Final Words

Almost 13 years ago, I said the human touch would always be the ultimate relationship-building tool. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is the power of the tools we have to support that human touch.

AI can make us faster, smarter and more informed, but it can’t make us more caring, empathetic or trustworthy. That’s still our job. The winners in this next era of business won’t be companies that choose between humans and AI. They will be the ones who use AI to help humans deliver better experiences. I’ll close with a quote that I recently came up with that, maybe 13 years from now, will also be relevant:

• The future isn’t AI versus humans. It’s AI plus humans—Shep Hyken, CX expert