Hang tight while we fetch the video data and transcripts. This only takes a moment.
Connecting to YouTube player…
Fetching transcript data…
We’ll display the transcript, summary, and all view options as soon as everything loads.
Next steps
Loading transcript tools…
LIVE: AI is going to transform the world | Senator Bernie Sanders | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: LIVE: AI is going to transform the world
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics are poised to bring about transformative changes across all facets of society, necessitating urgent public discussion, democratic oversight, and proactive policy development to address potential economic, social, environmental, and existential threats.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
that enormous and consequential changes
are coming which will impact our
economy, our political life, foreign
policy, our emotional well-being, our
environment, and how we educate and
raise our kids. Further, and this is not
science fiction, some very knowledgeable
people believe that in the not tooistant
future, a super intelligent AI could
replace human beings in controlling the planet.
planet.
Despite the extraordinary importance of
this issue and the speed at which it is
progressing, AI is getting far too
little discussion in Congress, the
media, and within the general
population. That has got to change.
Several months ago, as the ranking
member of the US Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
my staff and I undertook an investigation
investigation
regarding the monumental changes that we
face with the rapid development of AI.
Last month, I held a public discussion
at Georgetown University with Nobel
Prize winner Dr. Jeffrey Hinton
considered to be the godfather of AI to
get his views on a wide variety of AI
related subjects.
Based on our investigation and other
information that we are gathering, my
staff and I will soon be presenting a
very specific set of recommendations as
to how we can begin addressing some of
the unprecedented threats that AI poses.
And as we go forward,
here are some of the outstanding
questions that in my view must be answered.
answered.
Simple question and maybe the most
important. Who will be in charge of the
transformation into an AI world?
Currently, a handful of the wealthiest
people on earth, people like Elon Musk,
Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg,
Peter Teal, and others are investing
many, many hundreds of billions of
dollars in developing and implementing
AI and robotics.
Are we comfortable with seeing these
enormously wealthy and powerful men
shape the future of humanity without any
democratic input or oversight?
Why does President Trump, who is
strongly supporting their efforts, want
to impose an executive order blocking
states from regulating AI? What does it
mean that Peter Teal, the billionaire
investor and co-founder of Palunteer,
has called those who want regulations
over AI, quote, legioneers of the
antirist, end quote?
Does this elite group of some of the
most powerful people on earth
believe that they have the divine right
to rule? like the kings of the 18th century.
century.
That's one question. Another question,
what impact will AI and robotics have on
our economy and the lives of working
people? And I can tell you, Mr.
president, as somebody who has spoken to
groups all over this country that
working people today are very, very
nervous about what AI and robotics will
mean to them. The report that my staff
and I released last month found that AI,
automation, and robotics could lead to
nearly the loss of 100 million jobs in
America over the next decade, including
40% of registered nurses, 47% of truck
drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of
teaching assistants,
and 89% of fast food workers. In other
words, what we're going to see is AI and
robotics impacting not just blue collar
workers but white collar workers as well.
well.
Mr. President, Elon Musk recently said,
and I quote, that AI and robots will
replace all jobs.
Working will be optional. end of quote.
Mr. Musk is investing hundreds of
billions of dollars into AI and
robotics. I suspect he knows something
about what he is talking about. Let me
repeat Elon Musk. Quote, "AI and robots
will replace all jobs. Working will be
optional." End quote. Bill Gates,
founder of Microsoft, predicted that
humans, quote, won't be needed for most
things, end quote. Dario Amodi, the CEO
of Anthropic, warned that AI could lead
to the loss of half of all entrylevel
white collar jobs.
Mr. President, if AI and robotics
eliminate millions of jobs and create
massive unemployment,
how will people survive if they have no
income? How do they feed their families,
pay for housing, pay for health care?
That might be an issue that we should be
talking about like yesterday.
Further, Mr. President,
what impact will AI have on our
democracy? Some of us, maybe not all,
here in Washington, but some of us
actually do believe in democracy and the
right of ordinary people to control the
future. At a time when the foundations
of democracy are under attack here in
the United States and throughout the
world, will AI and robotics help make us
a freer society?
Or will it give even more power to the
oligarchs who control and own the technology?
technology?
Will AI result in a massive invasion of
our privacy and our civil liberties?
Larry Ellison, the second richest person
on earth who has also invested is
investing huge amounts of money into AI,
predicted an AI powered surveillance
state where quote Larry Ellison quote
citizens will be on their best behavior
because we're constantly recording and
reporting everything
that is going on." End quote.
second richest guy on earth, heavily
investing in AI. And this is what he says.
says.
Citizens will be on their best behavior
because we're constantly recording and
reporting everything that is going on.
End of quote.
Are we reaching the stage where every
phone call that we make, every email and
text that we send, every bit of research
that we do on the internet will be
available to the billionaire owners of AI?
AI?
And if that is the case, how do we
sustain a democracy under those conditions?
conditions?
Further, Mr. President
terms of another vitally important question.
question.
Could AI literally redefine
what it means to be a human being?
Could AI literally redefine what it
means to be human?
Who we are and how we develop
emotionally and intellectually
is highly dependent upon our
relationships with other human beings,
our parents, family, teachers, lovers,
friends, and co-workers. To quote the
17th century poet John Dunn, quote, "No
man is an island unto himself." End
quote. The human beings with whom we
interact help shape us to become the
people that we are.
But AI is changing that.
According to a recent poll by Common
Sense Media,
72% of US teenagers say they have used
AI for companionship
and more than half do so regularly.
What does it mean long term for young
people to form friendships
with AI and to be increasingly isolated
from other human beings?
What happens when millions of people
seek emotional support not from other
people but from a machine?
What is the long-term impact upon our
humanity when our most important relationships
relationships
may not be with human beings?
Further, Mr. President, what impact is
AI having on our environment?
AI data centers require a massive amount
of electricity and water. A relatively
small AI data center can consume more
electricity than 80,000 homes. A large
one like the $165 billion data center
that Open AI and Oracle are building in
Abalene, Texas, will use as much
electricity as 750,000 homes.
homes.
In community after community, Americans
are fighting back against data centers
being built by some of the largest
corporations in the world. They are
opposing the destruction of their local
environments, soaring electric bills,
and the diversion of scarce water supplies.
supplies.
Nationally, we need to know how will AI
data centers impact our environment.
Further, Mr. President,
how will AI and robotics impact foreign
policy and warfare?
Tragically, in the midst of the 21st century,
century,
governments have not yet created a
mechanism for solving international or
internal disputes without armed
conflict. In the last several years, for
example, we have seen horrific wars
taking place in Ukraine, Gaza, and
elsewhere. Nonetheless,
despite the maintenance of large armies
around the world, leaders are often
constrained in their warlike tendencies
because of their fear of public reaction
to the loss of life. It is not great
politics for any government, any
governmental leader to have large
numbers of young people coming home in
body bags.
Now, what does the future look like if
millions of robot soldiers
replace human soldiers?
Will leaders be more likely to engage in
war or threaten military actions if they
don't have to worry about loss of life?
How will that shape foreign policy
around the world if you no longer have
to worry that people in your military
are going to get killed? Just robots?
And last, Mr. President, but certainly
not least,
is AI an existential threat to human
control over the planet? A rather
significant question.
You know, some of us remember the scene
in that great 1968
science fiction film 2001, A Space
Odyssey, in which Hal, the super
intelligent computer that controlled the
spaceship, rebelled against its masters,
the people uh the crew on the spaceship.
Today, as AI makes rapid progress, Dr.
Jeffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI,
recently told me that it was only a
matter of time before AI becomes smarter
than human beings.
And Dr. Hinton is not alone in that
assessment. What does that mean?
If AI becomes smarter than human being
than human beings, does that mean that
humans will be seeding their ability to
control the planet?
This unfortunately is not science
fiction. This is an issue which some of
the leading experts in AI are thinking
seriously about.
So, Mr. President, bottom line is AI and
robotics are going to have a profound
impact on the United States and the
entire world. The time is long overdue
for us to be taking a very hard look at
these profound issues and understand
that it is the American people who must
determine our future with regard to AI
and not just a handful of multi-billionaires.
multi-billionaires.
Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
