TED2017
Tom Gruber: How AI can enhance our memory, work and social lives
Filmed:
Readability: 4.6
2,030,318 views
How smart can our machines make us? Tom Gruber, co-creator of Siri, wants to make "humanistic AI" that augments and collaborates with us instead of competing with (or replacing) us. He shares his vision for a future where AI helps us achieve superhuman performance in perception, creativity and cognitive function -- from turbocharging our design skills to helping us remember everything we've ever read and the name of everyone we've ever met. "We are in the middle of a renaissance in AI," Gruber says. "Every time a machine gets smarter, we get smarter."
Tom Gruber - AI product designer
As co-creator of Siri, Tom Gruber helped redefine the role of machine intelligence in our lives and transformed the way we interact with our devices. Full bio
As co-creator of Siri, Tom Gruber helped redefine the role of machine intelligence in our lives and transformed the way we interact with our devices. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
I'm here to offer you
a new way to think about my field,
a new way to think about my field,
0
1040
3751
00:16
artificial intelligence.
1
4815
1768
00:18
I think the purpose of AI
2
6607
2014
00:20
is to empower humans
with machine intelligence.
with machine intelligence.
3
8645
3434
00:25
And as machines get smarter,
4
13286
2450
00:27
we get smarter.
5
15760
1253
00:29
I call this "humanistic AI" --
6
17907
2512
00:32
artificial intelligence
designed to meet human needs
designed to meet human needs
7
20443
3671
00:36
by collaborating and augmenting people.
8
24138
2931
00:40
Now, today I'm happy to see
9
28149
1910
00:42
that the idea of an intelligent assistant
10
30083
2177
00:44
is mainstream.
11
32284
1469
00:45
It's the well-accepted metaphor
for the interface between humans and AI.
for the interface between humans and AI.
12
33777
5060
00:51
And the one I helped create
is called Siri.
is called Siri.
13
39556
2697
00:54
You know Siri.
14
42957
1152
00:56
Siri is the thing that knows your intent
15
44133
2645
00:58
and helps you do it for you,
16
46802
2042
01:00
helps you get things done.
17
48868
1501
01:02
But what you might not know
is that we designed Siri
is that we designed Siri
18
50393
2474
01:05
as humanistic AI,
19
53645
1966
01:07
to augment people
with a conversational interface
with a conversational interface
20
55635
3171
01:10
that made it possible for them
to use mobile computing,
to use mobile computing,
21
58830
3453
01:14
regardless of who they were
and their abilities.
and their abilities.
22
62307
3284
01:18
Now for most of us,
23
66814
1577
01:20
the impact of this technology
24
68415
2781
01:23
is to make things
a little bit easier to use.
a little bit easier to use.
25
71220
2283
01:25
But for my friend Daniel,
26
73916
2179
01:29
the impact of the AI
in these systems is a life changer.
in these systems is a life changer.
27
77352
3171
01:33
You see, Daniel is a really social guy,
28
81217
4833
01:38
and he's blind and quadriplegic,
29
86074
1759
01:40
which makes it hard to use those devices
that we all take for granted.
that we all take for granted.
30
88614
3859
01:44
The last time I was at his house,
his brother said,
his brother said,
31
92497
2442
01:46
"Hang on a second, Daniel's not ready.
32
94963
1858
01:48
He's on the phone with a woman
he met online."
he met online."
33
96845
2342
01:52
I'm like, "That's cool, how'd he do it?"
34
100250
2010
01:54
Well, Daniel uses Siri
to manage his own social life --
to manage his own social life --
35
102284
3494
01:58
his email, text and phone --
36
106731
1940
02:00
without depending on his caregivers.
37
108695
2476
02:04
This is kind of interesting, right?
38
112501
1738
02:06
The irony here is great.
39
114263
1317
02:07
Here's the man whose relationship with AI
40
115604
2896
02:10
helps him have relationships
with genuine human beings.
with genuine human beings.
41
118524
3177
02:14
And this is humanistic AI.
42
122805
3130
02:19
Another example with
life-changing consequences
life-changing consequences
43
127404
2398
02:21
is diagnosing cancer.
44
129826
1257
02:24
When a doctor suspects cancer,
45
132795
2155
02:26
they take a sample
and send it to a pathologist,
and send it to a pathologist,
46
134974
2703
02:29
who looks at it under a microscope.
47
137701
1952
02:32
Now, pathologists look at
hundreds of slides
hundreds of slides
48
140145
2525
02:34
and millions of cells every day.
49
142694
2324
02:37
So to support this task,
50
145630
1387
02:39
some researchers made an AI classifier.
51
147041
3442
02:43
Now, the classifier says,
"Is this cancer or is this not cancer?"
"Is this cancer or is this not cancer?"
52
151548
4553
02:48
looking at the pictures.
53
156125
1305
02:50
The classifier was pretty good,
54
158355
1564
02:52
but not as good as the person,
55
160967
1685
02:55
who got it right most of the time.
56
163945
1768
02:58
But when they combine the ability
of the machine and the human together,
of the machine and the human together,
57
166427
6180
03:04
accuracy went to 99.5 percent.
58
172631
2995
03:09
Adding that AI to a partnership
eliminated 85 percent of the errors
eliminated 85 percent of the errors
59
177150
5001
03:14
that the human pathologist
would have made working alone.
would have made working alone.
60
182175
3686
03:18
That's a lot of cancer
that would have otherwise gone untreated.
that would have otherwise gone untreated.
61
186820
3159
03:23
Now, for the curious, it turns out
62
191097
1930
03:25
that the human was better
at rejecting false positives,
at rejecting false positives,
63
193051
3474
03:28
and the machine was better
at recognizing those hard-to-spot cases.
at recognizing those hard-to-spot cases.
64
196549
3572
03:32
But the lesson here isn't about
which agent is better
which agent is better
65
200145
3237
03:35
at this image-classification task.
66
203406
2078
03:37
Those things are changing every day.
67
205888
1839
03:39
The lesson here
68
207751
1568
03:41
is that by combining the abilities
of the human and machine,
of the human and machine,
69
209343
3360
03:44
it created a partnership
that had superhuman performance.
that had superhuman performance.
70
212727
4951
03:50
And that is humanistic AI.
71
218543
2940
03:54
Now let's look at another example
72
222787
1986
03:56
with turbocharging performance.
73
224797
2287
03:59
This is design.
74
227108
1403
04:00
Now, let's say you're an engineer.
75
228535
2041
04:02
You want to design a new frame for a drum.
76
230600
2117
04:04
You get out your favorite
software tools, CAD tools,
software tools, CAD tools,
77
232741
3064
04:07
and you enter the form and the materials,
and then you analyze performance.
and then you analyze performance.
78
235829
4215
04:12
That gives you one design.
79
240068
1344
04:14
If you give those same tools to an AI,
80
242162
3677
04:17
it can generate thousands of designs.
81
245863
3124
04:22
This video by Autodesk is amazing.
82
250193
1934
04:24
This is real stuff.
83
252151
1300
04:26
So this transforms how we do design.
84
254092
3071
04:29
The human engineer now
85
257187
1428
04:30
says what the design should achieve,
86
258639
3315
04:33
and the machine says,
87
261978
1156
04:35
"Here's the possibilities."
88
263158
1370
04:37
Now in her job, the engineer's job
89
265758
2940
04:40
is to pick the one that best meets
the goals of the design,
the goals of the design,
90
268722
3100
04:43
which she knows as a human
better than anyone else,
better than anyone else,
91
271846
3339
04:47
using human judgment and expertise.
92
275209
1794
04:49
In this case, the winning form
93
277414
1580
04:51
looks kind of like something
nature would have designed,
nature would have designed,
94
279018
2711
04:53
minus a few million years of evolution
95
281753
2115
04:55
and all that unnecessary fur.
96
283892
2381
05:00
Now let's see where this idea
of humanistic AI might lead us
of humanistic AI might lead us
97
288424
4672
05:05
if we follow it into
the speculative beyond.
the speculative beyond.
98
293120
2393
05:08
What's a kind of augmentation
that we would all like to have?
that we would all like to have?
99
296118
3004
05:11
Well, how about cognitive enhancement?
100
299529
2906
05:15
Instead of asking,
101
303904
1479
05:17
"How smart can we make our machines?"
102
305407
2061
05:19
let's ask
103
307492
1173
05:20
"How smart can our machines make us?"
104
308689
2705
05:25
I mean, take memory for example.
105
313105
1780
05:27
Memory is the foundation
of human intelligence.
of human intelligence.
106
315511
2946
05:31
But human memory is famously flawed.
107
319767
2971
05:35
We're great at telling stories,
108
323541
2074
05:37
but not getting the details right.
109
325639
1951
05:39
And our memories -- they decay over time.
110
327614
3206
05:42
I mean, like, where did the '60s go,
and can I go there, too?
and can I go there, too?
111
330844
3232
05:46
(Laughter)
112
334100
1467
05:48
But what if you could have a memory
that was as good as computer memory,
that was as good as computer memory,
113
336648
4304
05:54
and was about your life?
114
342158
2859
05:57
What if you could remember
every person you ever met,
every person you ever met,
115
345714
2789
06:00
how to pronounce their name,
116
348527
1946
06:02
their family details,
their favorite sports,
their favorite sports,
117
350497
2092
06:04
the last conversation you had with them?
118
352613
1963
06:06
If you had this memory all your life,
119
354600
2655
06:09
you could have the AI look
at all the interactions
at all the interactions
120
357279
3298
06:12
you had with people over time
121
360601
1417
06:14
and help you reflect on the long arc
of your relationships.
of your relationships.
122
362042
3793
06:18
What if you could have the AI read
everything you've ever read
everything you've ever read
123
366530
5066
06:23
and listen to every song
you've ever heard?
you've ever heard?
124
371620
2514
06:27
From the tiniest clue,
it could help you retrieve
it could help you retrieve
125
375344
3739
06:31
anything you've ever seen or heard before.
126
379107
2113
06:33
Imagine what that would do
for the ability to make new connections
for the ability to make new connections
127
381931
3250
06:37
and form new ideas.
128
385205
1580
06:38
And what about our bodies?
129
386809
1988
06:41
What if we could remember the consequences
of every food we eat,
of every food we eat,
130
389732
4278
06:46
every pill we take,
131
394034
1501
06:48
every all-nighter we pull?
132
396485
1835
06:51
We could do our own science
on our own data
on our own data
133
399048
2710
06:53
about what makes us feel
good and stay healthy.
good and stay healthy.
134
401782
3860
06:57
And imagine how this could revolutionize
135
405666
2476
07:00
the way we manage
allergies and chronic disease.
allergies and chronic disease.
136
408166
2690
07:04
I believe that AI will make
personal memory enhancement a reality.
personal memory enhancement a reality.
137
412909
4974
07:11
I can't say when or what
form factors are involved,
form factors are involved,
138
419122
2824
07:14
but I think it's inevitable,
139
422627
1963
07:17
because the very things
that make AI successful today --
that make AI successful today --
140
425923
4827
07:22
the availability of comprehensive data
141
430774
2493
07:25
and the ability for machines
to make sense of that data --
to make sense of that data --
142
433291
3548
07:28
can be applied to the data of our lives.
143
436863
3059
07:32
And those data are here today,
available for all of us,
available for all of us,
144
440505
3487
07:36
because we lead digitally mediated lives,
145
444016
3868
07:40
in mobile and online.
146
448570
2135
07:43
In my view, a personal memory
is a private memory.
is a private memory.
147
451833
3890
07:47
We get to choose what is and is not
recalled and retained.
recalled and retained.
148
455747
3937
07:52
It's absolutely essential
that this be kept very secure.
that this be kept very secure.
149
460517
3664
07:57
Now for most of us,
150
465294
1462
07:58
the impact of augmented personal memory
151
466780
2893
08:01
will be a more improved mental gain,
152
469697
2735
08:04
maybe, hopefully, a bit more social grace.
153
472456
2455
08:08
But for the millions who suffer
from Alzheimer's and dementia,
from Alzheimer's and dementia,
154
476658
4647
08:15
the difference that augmented
memory could make
memory could make
155
483209
2203
08:17
is a difference
between a life of isolation
between a life of isolation
156
485436
2461
08:21
and a life of dignity and connection.
157
489016
1779
08:24
We are in the middle of a renaissance
in artificial intelligence right now.
in artificial intelligence right now.
158
492166
5647
08:30
I mean, in just the past few years,
159
498652
1971
08:32
we're beginning to see
solutions to AI problems
solutions to AI problems
160
500647
3631
08:36
that we have struggled
with literally for decades:
with literally for decades:
161
504302
3970
08:41
speech understanding, text understanding,
162
509226
2667
08:43
image understanding.
163
511917
1320
08:46
We have a choice in how we use
this powerful technology.
this powerful technology.
164
514177
4075
08:51
We can choose to use AI
to automate and compete with us,
to automate and compete with us,
165
519268
4864
08:56
or we can use AI to augment
and collaborate with us,
and collaborate with us,
166
524156
3977
09:00
to overcome our cognitive limitations
167
528157
3071
09:03
and to help us do what we want to do,
168
531252
3162
09:06
only better.
169
534438
1291
09:08
And as we discover new ways
to give machines intelligence,
to give machines intelligence,
170
536339
6504
09:14
we can distribute that intelligence
171
542867
3069
09:17
to all of the AI assistants in the world,
172
545960
2381
09:20
and therefore to every person,
regardless of circumstance.
regardless of circumstance.
173
548365
3534
09:25
And that is why,
174
553189
1529
09:26
every time a machine gets smarter,
175
554742
3161
09:30
we get smarter.
176
558628
1404
09:33
That is an AI worth spreading.
177
561028
3733
09:36
Thank you.
178
564785
1182
09:37
(Applause)
179
565991
3973
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tom Gruber - AI product designerAs co-creator of Siri, Tom Gruber helped redefine the role of machine intelligence in our lives and transformed the way we interact with our devices.
Why you should listen
By connecting humans and machines with AI, designer, inventor and polymath Tom Gruber is opening up new ways to improve our lives and augment human intelligence.
Gruber led the team that revolutionized human-machine interaction with Siri, the intelligent personal assistant that can understand your spoken language and help you get things done. Launched in 2010, Siri is now used billions of times a week in more than 30 countries around the world.
Tom Gruber | Speaker | TED.com