Seeing A Better Future For AI

I grew up during the 80s and 90s, the kind of kid who built his own computers late into the night and heard the dial-up modem's tones as my personal anthem. During this time of great promise in mankind's technological potential I remember watching early documentaries on artificial intelligence (AI). My experiences as a software programmer, patent-holding inventor and successful entrepreneur during the past three decades were fueled by this wide-eyed optimism of my youth. I still draw upon that feeling daily, but more than ever we need to see past it if we are to create the best possible future for AI, a technology I believe that will transform the world as we know it. As more people are connected online, it is more obvious than ever that such blind optimism is as anachronistic as a five and a quarter inch floppy.