Steps Every Leader Should Take to Prepare for Artificial Intelligence

I’ve spent much of the past year thinking about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will affect what it means to be human over the coming decades. As part of that work, I’ve spoken with a wide range of scientists, researchers, public officials, and national security leaders about how AI will shape the future—and, often, how it is already changing our reality.

Through these conversations, I’ve come to believe that AI will lead to breakthroughs in almost every industry, field, and discipline. In fact, over the next ten years, AI may transform just about every aspect of society. And no, that is not an exaggeration.?

For leaders, such widespread and rapid change can be disconcerting. But it can also be an opportunity.

I believe the answer is deceptively simple: Ask the right questions.?

We already know what happens when we don’t ask the right questions as a groundbreaking technology rapidly develops. Twenty years ago, when I began working as the CEO of Google, the internet was just getting started. No one, myself included, asked the hard questions about what kind of consequences the internet might create. There weren’t debates about how the internet would influence society or what it would mean for people and communities. Everyone was too busy building the systems to think much about it. As a result, it seems like every day we now learn about another internet-related issue that we aren’t prepared to handle.?

But we can't be unprepared for AI. It’s too powerful. Its changes will be too important. That’s why I’ve partnered with Henry Kissinger and Dan Huttenlocher to write a new book, The Age of AI: And Our Human Future . The goal of the book is to outline the fundamental questions that AI poses for our society.

These are not questions that should simply be left to technologists. Because AI will impact all of society, each of us must get involved. Leaders of organizations have an important role to play.?

Here are two steps every leader can take to prepare for the dramatic changes AI will bring to their organization.

Build AI capability in house. The most important step a CEO can take right now is building AI capacity in house. AI will enable transformative changes in business, and you’ll want to be able to take advantage of its full potential—whether that’s using AI to design products, better understand customers, build new systems, distribute products, or any other of the countless use cases for AI.?

Establish AI principles. At the same time, you need to be thoughtful in how your organization will and won’t utilize AI. For instance, the major technology companies now have AI ethics boards to decide what type of activity is appropriate, what is not, and where to draw the line. However, these companies still have incentive for economic growth. As AI becomes more powerful, it’s critical to have firm principles that employees understand and implement.?

AI is ushering in a new epoch in human experience. Each of us must help ask—and even try to answer—the tough questions that lie ahead. So, how are you thinking about AI’s impact on society and what it means to be human??