Mercer Times

Princeton University will host an event featuring alumnus Eric Schmidt on November 20, where he will discuss his new book, "Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit." Schmidt co-authored the book with Craig Mundie and the late Henry Kissinger. The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in McCosh Hall, Room 50, and is open to the public. The first 250 attendees will receive a free copy of the book. Although tickets are sold out, there will be a waiting line for unfilled seats by 5:25 p.m., and it will be livestreamed on Princeton University's YouTube channel.

The publisher Little, Brown and Co describes "Genesis" as navigating between "blind faith and unjustified fear" regarding artificial intelligence (AI). The authors explore AI's impact across seven areas: discovery, truth, politics, security, prosperity, science, and fate. They emphasize that "AI seems to compress human timescales," warning about rapid changes.

Eric Schmidt served as Google CEO and chairman from 2001 to 2011. During this time, he helped transform Google into a global technology leader alongside founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. He later advised Alphabet as a technical adviser from 2018 to 2020 after serving as executive chairman from 2015 to 2018.

Before his tenure at Google, Schmidt was chairman and CEO of Novell and spent over a decade at Sun Microsystems. His early career included roles at Xerox PARC, Bell Laboratories, and Zilog.

Craig Mundie was a Microsoft executive from 1992 to 2014 and has advised U.S. Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama on technology policy matters. This marks the final collaboration with Henry Kissinger before his death in November 2023. Schmidt previously worked with Kissinger on another AI-focused book published in 2021.