First, autonomous systems that can operate on their own in accordance with their intended purpose will revolutionize all industries; driverless cars are just one of the earliest applications. It will be the core infrastructure for a new generation of productivity, and this infrastructure can be deployed globally.
Second, natural language interaction technology will create new computing platforms. For humans, the most natural interaction is through natural language and vision, so mature natural language interaction technology will create ubiquitous personal assistants. This will also make society more fair. In the past, only wealthy people could afford personal assistants. Anyone in the future could have an assistant to help.
This assistant can understand through hearing, understanding through seeing, and it can also be everywhere. Then, this platform can do more things through extension, such as food, clothing, housing, and education. Of course, it will take a little bit of time to realize this.
Finally, artificial intelligence technology has a very large impact on the scientific research field. I think we will usher in a Renaissance in the scientific world; because of artificial intelligence technology, more and more interdisciplinary research and applications can be developed.
What I’m doing at YC is I want to quickly push forward these visions to “land” into reality, especially in China. Because China has a large population and many industries, more people means more data. This is the main differentiating point between the artificial intelligence technology revolution and the previous technological revolution.