Science is worthless if it is not motivated by basic human values and the desire to help people, Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook told graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Friday, urging them to use their powers for good.
In a commencement address, Cook — who as Apple’s chief executive since 2011 has overseen the rollout of the iPhone 7 and the Apple Watch — said the company is constantly looking for ways to combine tech with a sense of humanity and compassion.
“Whatever you do in your life and whatever we do at Apple, we must infuse it with the humanity that we are born with,” said Cook, who previously served as chief operating officer and headed the Macintosh division. “That responsibility is immense, but so is the opportunity,” he said.
Cook said Apple wants to make products that help people.
As examples, he cited iPhone technology that can help a blind athlete run a marathon and an iPad that connects an autistic child to the world around them.
“When you keep people at the center of what you do, it can impact,” he said.
Cook said he is not worried about artificial intelligence giving computers the ability to think like humans.
“I’m more concerned about people thinking like computers without values or compassion or concern for the consequences,” he said. “That is what we need you to help us guard against. Because if science is a search in the darkness, then the humanities are a candle that shows us where we have been and the danger that lies ahead.”
Cook also urged graduates to resist becoming cynical.
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