We need to think carefully because obviously there will be enormous benefits, but there are also risks. Robots and such are things to watch carefully because of their impact on the labour market and all that sort of thing.
You know that story of the wise man who saves the king and is asked what prize he wants. He suggests he would like a grain of rice on the first square of a chessboard, and on the second square two grains of rice, and on the third square four grains, and so on. The king heartily agrees. That sounds like no big deal. By the time you get to the 32nd square, it's more rice than could be grown in two big fields. The interesting thing is on the 33rd and the 34th you get into numbers that are staggering, and by the 64th square, it's more rice than has ever been grown and ever will be grown on the earth.
I think we are now in the 33rd square of digital media. We have had a doubling and a redoubling. It's called Moore's law. It has been going on since the 80s. Now we're in that 34th square, and as things double this year, and the year after that, and the year after that, the changes will be absolutely profound.
I can't predict them. I can only tell you the movie Her and stuff like that is not never going to happen. That's going to happen, and it's going to happen in our lifetimes, and Watson is just an example. Watson's going to be the size of your hand. It's not going to be a room full of computers. You can carry it in your pocket.
We can't predict what the future is, but we sure know it's changing very rapidly.