The Fujitsu Ltd. RoBoPin communication robot at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies in Japan on Oct. 4, 2016. Every year there is a new hot topic in tech. The difference between now and the past is that everything is becoming interconnected at a faster rate. We are entering an extremely critical time in history where society will change dramatically – how we work, live and play. Science fiction is morphing into reality. Flying cars exist, cars that drive themselves are on the road, and artificial intelligence that automates our lives is here.

Every year there is a new hot topic in tech. The difference between now and the past is that everything is becoming interconnected at a faster rate. We are entering an extremely critical time in history where society will change dramatically – how we work, live and play. Science fiction is morphing into reality. Flying cars exist, cars that drive themselves are on the road, and artificial intelligence that automates our lives is here.

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as the Amazon Echo and self-driving cars are hitting the market, they are poised to become an essential part of society. For people around the world, especially college students, this could mean some big changes. Once created, an AI can be used either internally or externally. Internal interfaces are located on a cloud and can access other devices and software that is used in the home such as a TV or smartphone. Technology like the Amazon Echo, which can access apps that are downloaded on a smart phone, is an example of this, but in comparison this technology is rudimentary compared to what others have developed.

At one of those conferences, I met John. Stanford moved toward a computer science department under the leadership of George Forsythe, John suggested to George, and then supported, the idea of hiring me into the founding faculty of the department. Since we were both Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) contract awardees, we quickly formed a close bond concerning ARPA-sponsored AI research and graduate student teaching. And the joint intelligence of both of us was quickly deployed in a very rapid and, in retrospect, brilliant decision to hire Les Earnest to be the executive officer of the new Stanford AI Lab that ARPA supported. John McCarthy's first breakthrough paper was his 1958 Teddington Symposium paper on programs with commonsense reasoning abilities.