Meeting the AI moment: advancing the future through responsible AI Posted on : Feb 03 - 2023

Early last summer, a small group of senior leaders and responsible AI experts at Microsoft started using technology from OpenAI similar to what the world now knows as ChatGPT. Even for those who had worked closely with the developers of this technology at OpenAI since 2019, the most recent progress seemed remarkable. AI developments we had expected around 2033 would arrive in 2023 instead.

Looking back at the history of our industry, certain watershed years stand out. For example, internet usage exploded with the popularity of the browser in 1995, and smartphone growth accelerated in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone. It’s now likely that 2023 will mark a critical inflection point for artificial intelligence. The opportunities for people are huge. And the responsibilities for those of us who develop this technology are bigger still. We need to use this watershed year not just to launch new AI advances, but to responsibly and effectively address both the promises and perils that lie ahead.

The stakes are high. AI may well represent the most consequential technology advance of our lifetime. And while that’s saying a lot, there’s good reason to say it. Today’s cutting-edge AI is a powerful tool for advancing critical thinking and stimulating creative expression. It makes it possible not only to search for information but to seek answers to questions. It can help people uncover insights amid complex data and processes. It speeds up our ability to express what we learn more quickly. Perhaps most important, it’s going to do all these things better and better in the coming months and years.

I’ve had the opportunity for many months to use not only ChatGPT, but the internal AI services under development inside Microsoft. Every day, I find myself learning new ways to get the most from the technology and, even more important, thinking about the broader dimensions that will come from this new AI era. Questions abound.

For example, what will this change?

Over time, the short answer is almost everything. Because, like no technology before it, these AI advances augment humanity’s ability to think, reason, learn and express ourselves. In effect, the industrial revolution is now coming to knowledge work. And knowledge work is fundamental to everything.

This brings huge opportunities to better the world. AI will improve productivity and stimulate economic growth. It will reduce the drudgery in many jobs and, when used effectively, it will help people be more creative in their work and impactful in their lives. The ability to discover new insights in large data sets will drive new advances in medicine, new frontiers in science, new improvements in business, and new and stronger defenses for cyber and national security. View more