Pod Insights Possible with Reid Hoffman BONUS: Reid Hoffman’s commencement speech at Bologna Business School About this episode What does AI mean for the leaders of tomorrow? On this bonus episode of Possible, Reid talks about the role of AI in shaping the future, the importance of beauty in technology, AI as a tool for amplification, and the responsibility of us all in using AI as a tool to benefit humankind.
This speech was originally delivered by Reid Hoffman in English on September 8, 2023 at the Bologna Business School at the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the Western world.
The transcript of the speech is here: https://www.reidhoffman.org/bologna-business-school-commencement-speech/
We’ve used AI—no human editing in this case to show what’s possible with the technology—to translate this speech into over 100 languages. View those versions here.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:03 Reid Hoffman? Buongiorno, possibl listeners. You're listening to a special episode of the Possible Podcast. Last week, I spoke at the commencement for the Business School at the University of Bologna, which is the oldest university in the Western world. It touched on many of the themes we talk about on Possible: from AI to the future of humanity. So I thought you might be interested in hearing it. Also, if you like art history or the Renaissance, give it a listen. Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for Possible's new second season, which launches this fall. And now, the commencement speech.
0:53 Reid Hoffman? Thank you for the kind introduction, Professor Manca. Ladies and gentlemen, President Prodi, Dean Bergami, Rector Molari, esteemed faculty, proud parents. It is my distinct pleasure and privilege to be with you today to honor the extraordinary graduates of the University of Bologna Business School. Graduates, well done. You did it.
1:30 Reid Hoffman? I'm honored to join everyone here today to celebrate your achievement. But I'm also here to invite you to your next course of study: you. And by "you," I mean all of us. And by "all of us," I mean humankind. Right now. In the poem "An Essay on Man," English poet Alexander Pope wrote, "Know then thyself, presume not God to scan. The proper study of mankind is man."
2:10 Reid Hoffman? Now he tells you, right? After you've just spent all that time studying fintech, marketing, or business management. Thanks a lot, Alexander. Of course, the truth is that in developing your expertise in your chosen field, you actually have been studying humankind. In fact, as an entrepreneur, investor, and a perpetual philosophy student, I've always believed that any new venture must have a strong theory of human nature underlying it. In other words, you need to know about humanity,
2:52 Reid Hoffman? the everyday person's wants and needs. Because when you tap into and help them achieve those wants and needs in meaningful ways, success often follows. And hopefully, ideally, as you seek success, you'll also be trying to elevate humanity by creating new ways to meet our wants and needs and by expanding our opportunities for pursuing meaning and purpose. This is the highest calling of business. Obviously, this is no small task. But the good news is you're more than equipped for this undertaking than any other generation to date. Your timing is phenomenal.
3:36 Reid Hoffman? For you have at your fingertips a technological revolution that doesn't come around more than once every few hundred years. Artificial intelligence, or AI. We're not only entering the AI generation. You are the AI generation. You are Generation AI. It might seem unusual to classify a generation of people after a technology, but it's always been this way, just not explicitly by name. The GI generation may have been shaped by the Great Depression and the world wars, but the reality was defined by technologies such as radio, the telephone, and the car.
4:23 Reid Hoffman? Millennials, or Generation Y, grew through a few global recessions and a pandemic. But what shaped the world was coming of age with the Internet, mobile phones, and social media. And the latest generation has been coined Generation Alpha for those born in the 2020s. It's still early, but social scientists predict that educational technology, social networks, and streaming services will frame their world. I think this is likely, but significantly incomplete. Generation Alpha will be assisted and amplified by AI.
5:05 Reid Hoffman? They will come of age as AI natives, and they won't be the only ones with this tool. AI will reshape the lives of all of us. It will become the primary technology that we use to make decisions and navigate life. A steam engine of the mind, a cognitive GPS, a tool for orientation, discovery, and navigation. We have this technology in our hands, not the other way around. With it, we have the opportunity to amplify and define the future of humanity.
5:49 Reid Hoffman? For AI should not be an abbreviation for artificial intelligence, but for amplification intelligence, for its power to augment and elevate us. Only a few technologies have had the potential to shape and to scale us in this way. The last two were the Internet and mobile phones. I believe AI is not only on that list, but also at the top of it because of its potential to amplify how we use the Internet, mobile phones, and many other technologies. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Okay, boomer, what will this world with AI look like?
6:32 Reid Hoffman? What does this actually mean for me?" Well, first I'd like to say that I'm actually Gen X, even if one of the older ones. And second, that the future is always sooner and stranger than you might think. Let's go back to a future that we once imagined. In the 1950s, we thought that flying cars were just on the horizon. We didn't get them then, nor have them yet, though we have made some strides. But in that same decade, US President Dwight Eisenhower formed an agency called ARPA, which generated the technology that created the internet.
7:13 Reid Hoffman? We didn't imagine we'd get something like the internet or mobile phone, but we did. And those tools have revolutionized the lives of the majority of humans on Earth.
7:27 Reid Hoffman? Wouldn't it have made sense that we'd get a new invention based on widespread publicly-released technology, cars, before getting a global network of billions of electronic devices that connect nearly 5 billion people and counting?
7:44 Reid Hoffman? Makes sense, but no. Like I said, the future is sooner and stranger than we think. Now, humanity is imagining a new future, one with AI. Given the speed and spread of AI, some people are talking about AI ushering in a potential apocalypse, while others argue that it will bring the new utopia. They either rejoice or worry about AI refashioning our world, whether it's their lenses, gene editing, geopolitics, climate, or pick any other facet of life.
8:24 Reid Hoffman? I encourage them, and you, to avoid setting up camp around either extreme, particularly at this stage of development with AI.
8:35 Reid Hoffman? Let's return to cars for a moment. Say cars here were the nascent technology of today. We could focus on spacefaring cars, talk about utopian dreams, or we could focus on traffic jams. We all know that dystopia. But at this stage, I'd recommend that we focus on the car itself, both as an innovation and as a tool to transform society. Of course, spacefaring cars and traffic jams deserve our attention. Eventually, we'll be much more able to assess futuristic possibilities
9:15 Reid Hoffman? or solve foreseeable challenges through the continuing development of technology. So our order of operation should be: How do we invent the car? Then, how do we modify and amplify that technology, such as electric, or autonomous, or flying vehicles? And then, how do we navigate traffic jams? Or the prospect of space travel by car? That's why the answer is not to slow down technology, but to accelerate it. Technology is a tool, and the faster we have it in our hands,
9:56 Reid Hoffman? the better we can solve problems we have and the problems it might create. Our tools are a reflection and the creation of us. That reminds me of the famous dictum from Father John Colkin and Marshall McLuhan: "We become what we behold." We shape our tools, and then our tools shape us. With AI, I encourage us to focus on shaping that tool that will in turn shape us. With this task in mind, I offer you three questions to consider. The first is how can I make better tools?
10:41 Reid Hoffman? The second question is equally vital, but might be unexpected coming from a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. How can I increase beauty in the world? And the third: How can I make better tools and increase beauty to the benefit of my fellow humans?
11:03 Reid Hoffman? Uno de los momentos más significativos en los que los humanos se preguntaron y actuaron sobre estas preguntas fue hace miles de años, justo aquí en Italia. Como muchos de los mundo saben, la Renaissance fue una reina cultural que duró de 14 a 17 siglos, marcando una era transformadora en Europa. Se celebró la revivencia del aprendizaje clásico, la arte y el humanismo, liberándose de los limites medievales. Este periodo vibrante vistió la floración de la investigación intelectual, la innovación artística y la exploración científica, que puso en marcha el camino para el pensamiento
11:45 Reid Hoffman? moderno e inspiró un cambio profundo en los valores y logros sociales. La Renaissance fue una resurgencia de belleza y mejores herramientas para el beneficio de los humanos. Un ejemplo primario de esto es el Domo de Brunelleschi, que cona el Duomo, una catedral de alrededor de 100 kilómetros de aquí. Seiscientos años después, sigue siendo una de las obras más maravillosas y bonitas de la arquitectura en el mundo. Es una sorpresa cada vez. La belleza del Domo de Brunelleschi puede ser atribuida a muchas cosas. Hay su fresco impresionante en su superficie interior, o su vault masono, que creo que
12:30 Reid Hoffman? sigue siendo el más grande en el mundo. Pero para mí, su belleza también está en lo que ya ha pasado y ya no es visible: la gente que lo construyó y las herramientas que usaron para hacerlo. Ves, un domo de ese tamaño no podía ser construido con la tecnología existente del día. Así que Brunelleschi decidió innovar. Inventó el escalón móvil y diseñó un crânio para sacar bronce con la ayuda de los trabajadores y carpentadores locales. Consultó con un famoso matemático para hacer cálculos para el domo, que se organizó en una estructura innovadora, con hilo de hueso, que aseguró la estructura.
13:16 Reid Hoffman? With his dome, Brunelleschi increased beauty in the world, made better tools, all of which benefited his fellow humans. He answered those three questions. But there is a fourth question, there is always another question:
13:34 Reid Hoffman? "How can my work transcend me and benefit humankind now and into the future?"
13:42 Reid Hoffman? This question is best answered once the other three have been, and often only with a perspective of history. You see, Brunelleschi not only honored and used past traditions and influences, but also forged a movement with contemporary and future masters such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci. He expanded the toolbox for generations of artists and architects, having been credited with the invention of linear perspective and mobile scaffolding. His tools and techniques were not only used in art and architecture, but also in many other fields and applications.
14:22 Reid Hoffman? And as importantly, Brunelleschi and his Renaissance contemporaries built in service of beauty. Beauty in terms of craft and aesthetics, in terms of tooling, effectiveness and efficiency, and in terms of elevating humanity and humankind. But to me, what made the concept of beauty in the Renaissance so special is how dynamic and unifying it was. It was about harmony and proportion, about the natural world and the human form, intellectual pursuits and emotional expression, narratives and symbolism.
15:04 Reid Hoffman? In the Renaissance, beauty was a conversation, an interaction, an exchange. It happened between people, between a scholar and classical texts, between artists and their art. Take Michelangelo's "David," what a sight to behold! But the most beautiful part about it? Michelangelo used a block of marble that was deemed flawed and unsuitable by other artists. He worked with the material's natural qualities, subtly adjusting his design to incorporate the imperfections of the marble.
15:43 Reid Hoffman? Now, that's a conversation with and about beauty. Or "The Baptism of Christ" by Andrea del Verrocchio. Aesthetically, it's a stunning painting. But it's most beautiful because it put his pupil, Leonardo da Vinci, on the map. Verrocchio had tasked da Vinci with painting an angel in the painting. It was at that moment that he realized the magnitude of da Vinci's abilities, and the rest is history. The reason the Renaissance has echoed through the ages is not just that it was an incredibly generative period,
16:25 Reid Hoffman? but because it will beauty into all that prolific production.
16:31 Reid Hoffman? Today, we are entering another historically generative period. But whereas the Renaissance masters mostly reshaped the physical realm, we have the same opportunity with the mental realm.
16:46 Reid Hoffman? We are already seeing how AI can supercharge the way we share ideas or express ourselves, whether that's through writing essays or books, creating art and poetry, or helping us communicate with each other in ways we might not otherwise have attempted, like this: Nonni tanto ch'okidichi, quante il modo incui lodici. Now, it's true...
17:18 Reid Hoffman? AI needs to help me as much with my accent as it did with his translation. But the point is that AI can help us both with what is said and how it is heard. And that is where humans and humanity can level up. Not only in getting more people to participate in conversations, but also in getting them to better communicate, connect, and relate. Because what defines humans and humanity is not just our unusual level of intelligence, but also how we capitalize on that intelligence by developing technologies that amplify and complement our mental, physical, and social capabilities,
18:03 Reid Hoffman? all in service of each other. If we nearly lived up to our scientific classification, Homo sapiens, and just sat around thinking all day, we'd be much different creatures than we actually are.
18:18 Reid Hoffman? A more accurate name for us is Homo techne, humans as toolmakers and tool-users.
18:27 Reid Hoffman? We build tools not only to make our lives better, easier, or faster, but more collaborative and more beautiful.
18:36 Reid Hoffman? That's technology. The story of humanity is the story of technology. And the history of technology, developed here in Italy, is astounding. There's the barometer, programmable calculator, radio, typewriter, parachute, compound microscope, motorcycle, internal combustion engine, and eyeglasses. We often talk about having a good vision for technology without acknowledging good vision as technology.
19:14 Reid Hoffman? And now there's AI, a new tool for us to shape, which will in turn shape our world. What will we do?
19:24 Reid Hoffman? This brings us back to you, Generation AI. You are the inheritors of Brunelleschi. We are all Brunelleschi.
19:36 Reid Hoffman? AI is our cognitive mobile scaffolding. It will help us build all kinds of cathedrals of the mind, many of which we could not have built before. It's already happening. We're already using AI to make new metal-glass hybrids 200 times faster, paving the way for improved batteries, alloys, and sensors, decades ahead of time. With AI, we're catching cancer diagnoses that we previously missed and screening for cancer at a fraction of the price, a game changer for the global population. We're using AI to unlock lost languages like Arcadian
20:20 Reid Hoffman? or decode animal communication, thus resetting our relationship with past humans as well as the rest of nature.
20:30 Reid Hoffman? The examples go on. This is what it can look like to shape AI, and how in turn, AI can shape all of us. But for many of us, our use of AI need not be as profound or as far-reaching to start. At a minimum, we just need to start using AI if we haven't, and to continue growing with it if we have. Because AI, like many technologies, gives us more abilities and time, both of which are invaluable gifts, and there's something foundationally beautiful about that. Empowered by AI, humanity can do more of what it does best: explore.
21:15 Reid Hoffman? And that progress will come at the periphery, the frontier that we explore. As the University of Bologna's own Umberto Eco once wrote: "We can only add to the world where we believe it ends."
21:31 Reid Hoffman? As we venture to add to the world, let's explore together and for each other. Of course, we're bound to get lost in technology every now and then. One way to keep our way is to remember that technology is human. It is from us and about us, how we choose to organize, create, and improve ourselves together. This is one of the legacies of the Renaissance we can weave into our story. That's how I understand it. This university, the oldest in the Western world, was created. It emerged not from a mandate, from a prince or a pope, nor under the direction of a group of teachers,
22:16 Reid Hoffman? but it grew from a spontaneous, informal initiative of a few students. Now, 935 years later, here you are, thousands of students from over 56 countries. I'm honored to be here with you and to share this moment. Standing up here and seeing the future, all of you in this historic Piazza Maggiore reminds me of just how essential it is to include the best of the Renaissance in our trajectory with AI.
22:54 Reid Hoffman? Which is the same technology I used to revise Keats' words about truth and beauty for this occasion. "Beauty is made by tools, and tools make beauty." And that is the story of the elevation of humanity.
23:11 Reid Hoffman? It starts with you, graduates. Right now. There's an exciting and beautiful future, ready to be shaped. The tools are in your hands. Thank you.
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