The steam engine. Electricity. The computer.

Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, told an American University audience on October 9 that generative artificial intelligence is poised to join an impressive list of world-altering, general-purpose technologies that catalyzed an avalanche of innovation.

“I believe, fundamentally, that AI is a new tool that can make the planet a better place if we can find new ways to work together—and if you all can bring to the future the spirit of not just innovation, but responsibility,” Smith said.

Smith came to campus last week as part of the Kogod School of Business’s Alan Meltzer CEO Speaker Series and delivered an overwhelmingly optimistic message about AI and why it can—and should—be for everyone.

To explain what the future may hold, Smith looked to insights from the invention of the incandescent light bulb in 1879. In the 20 years after Thomas Edison opened the first power plant in southern Manhattan, a whole new economy was born: washing machines, blenders, fans, and so much more that changed life as we knew it.

“All of these things were invented, inexpensively, often by new companies and new people, once that infrastructure was in place,” Smith said, noting that a similar AI economy is developing now.  

While electricity is one of the greatest modern innovations, its mistakes offer lessons of warning to today’s booming tech industry. Early twentieth century Americans didn’t understand the environmental impact of electricity, which is the second largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions today.

Electricity also didn’t spread equitably. By 1930, 90 percent of the urban US had electricity, while just 10 percent of rural Americans did, Smith said. And just over 142 years after that first power plant opened in New York City, 43 percent of Africans—an estimated 600 million people—still lack access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency.

“This is the greatest technology tragedy in the history of humanity: to invent a general-purpose technology that can change people’s lives—literally bring light into a dark room, transform productivity, economic growth—and it’ll take 150 years before we’ll be able to say that we have electricity for everyone. It’s the great cautionary tale. It is, in my view, the experience to be avoided.”

Smith said that mistake can be avoided with AI by investing in the technology across the globe. The Global Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Investment Partnership, which includes Microsoft, has committed to investing up to $100 billion to develop AI data centers and the energy infrastructure to power them, including through renewable energy like solar, wind, and nuclear.

Another important step in creating a brighter future is by making AI safe to use. Smith called for the technology to be regulated by government and through global industry standards governing AI, which he called “a weapon as well as a tool.” Smith said that customers never question whether milk is safe at the grocery store, due in large part to public trust in the US Department of Agriculture, which regulates the industry.

“I turn to folks in Silicon Valley creating AI and I say, ‘You say AI is going to be the most powerful technology ever invented. Do you really think it’ll be subject to less regulation than a carton of milk?’” Smith said. “Let’s figure out how to get it right. We need safety and security to go hand in hand with innovation.”

Amid this transformative time, Smith encouraged AU students to become fluent in AI tools, which are largely free to use. By testing the bounds of its usefulness for research, ideation, and other tasks, Eagles will develop a marketable skill and begin answering myriad questions about how to make AI available to everyone.  

“If you think about everything involving AI—from the creation of the technology to its use to how you deal with the sustainability issues—these are extraordinary, multidisciplinary challenges and opportunities,” Smith said. “It will take people from almost every department at American University to help us solve them, and it will take people with this curiosity to learn lots of different things. Those are the folks that will have the greatest impact.”