Steve Jobs predicted the rise of ChatGPT-like AI chatbots in 1983, archive footage reveals

Tech visionary Steve Jobs saw AI as the natural successor to books, enabling interactive learning and capturing the essence of great thinkers. While AI chatbots dominate tech headlines today, a newly-surfaced presentation reveals that Steve Jobs foresaw their potential almost 40 years ago. A digital exhibit from the Steve Jobs Archive showcases footage from a 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen, where the Apple co-founder shared his vision for a revolutionary technology.

Jobs believed that while books were "phenomenal" in directly connecting source to reader, they lacked interactivity. He longed for the ability to engage with the text, to ask questions and delve deeper into the author's mind.

"I think as we look towards the next 50 to 100 years, if we really can come up with these machines that can capture an underlying spirit, or an underlying set of principles, or an underlying way of looking at the world," Jobs stated, "then when the next Aristotle comes around, maybe if he carries around one of these machines with him his whole life, his or her whole life, and types in all this stuff, then maybe someday after the person is dead and gone, we can ask this machine, 'Hey, what would Aristotle have said? What about this?'"

Fast forward to the present, and Jobs' prediction seems startlingly accurate. AI chatbots like ChatGPT are being trained on vast datasets, including books, to answer user queries and even mimic the personas of historical figures. While their accuracy can vary, these AI systems offer a new way to interact with information, ideas, and even history itself.

The unearthed footage from the Steve Jobs Archive provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a tech visionary and highlights how some of today's most cutting-edge technologies are rooted in decades-old dreams.