Roberts says Comcast execs 'despondent' after Time Warner Cable, sees artificial intelligence as big trend

Comcast Corp. CEO Brian Roberts said Friday that he believes one of the biggest business trends will be "artificial intelligence," in which computers do tasks once done by people, leading to smart cities and smart cars. He didn't say how he thought artificial intelligence could transform Comcast, but he noted that "there's always a dark side to that kind of change." In a question-and-answer format, Roberts spoke conversationally to about 1,200 executives, lawyers, city and state officials, and others at the annual Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce breakfast . Before Roberts' remarks, Drexel University president John Fry officially took over as the chamber's board chairman, replacing Exelon Corp.'s Dennis O'Brien. Fry said he believed that Philadelphia could be one of the world's 25 top-tier cities, but that civic leaders couldn't be complacent because "as we sit down here for breakfast, [competing cities] are preparing to eat our lunch."