Genesis

We stand once again on the threshold of events that will fundamentally transform us. As artificial intelligence (AI) absorbs human knowledge on an unprecedented scale, it is beginning to mediate the relationship between us and reality. It has
the obvious potential to help solve fundamental problems, but at the same time it will pose challenges we have not yet faced. It will deprive us of our ability for independent judgement, test our relationship with the divine, and perhaps even trigger a new phase in the evolution of Homo sapiens. It will become our partner in everyday decision-making, but perhaps also an unmanageable threat, as warned of by Asimov. Which of its abilities will need to be curbed in time? Or have we already unconsciously and passively made our choice?

This collection of reflections, Genesis, spanning the full spectrum of opinions on AI from blind faith in all-powerful technology to an unfounded fear of the mechanical replacement of humankind, outlines a strategy for navigating the wilderness of the advanced information age. The final work of the eminent American statesman Henry Kissinger, written with IT specialists Craig Mundie and Eric Schmidt, prepares today's decision-makers—all of us—for the difficult choices of tomorrow. It advises us to carefully seize the opportunities that AI offers without falling victim to the dark forces that
its arrival has unleashed.

Henry A. Kissinger (1923–2023)

A native of Fürth, Bavaria, he fled Nazi Germany and served in the US Army during the Second World War. He became a US citizen in 1943. He studied and then taught history and political science at Harvard University for twenty years. He served as National Security Advisor and US Secretary of State (1973–1977) in the Nixon and subsequently Ford administrations. Among other honours, he also received the Nobel Peace Prize (1973), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977), and the Czech Order of T. G. Masaryk, First Class (1998). He is the author of many influential books on diplomacy and international relations—PROSTOR publishing house published his works Diplomacy, World Order, and The Art of Political Strategy. Until his death, he was an active and sought-after advisor to US presidents and many other world leaders and senior officials.

Craig J. Mundie (1949)

President of the American company Mundie & Associates, he worked at Microsoft from 1992–2014 as Chief Research and Strategy Officer. He remains an advisor to Microsoft on quantum computing and cybersecurity. He is a director of the Institute for Systems Biology, a technology advisor to the Cleveland Clinic, and an investor and advisor to new companies in the fields of AI, biotechnology, fusion energy, and materials physics. During the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations, he was a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He received a doctorate in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Eric Schmidt (1955)

The American inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist joined the founders of Google in 2001. He was instrumental in the company's development from a start-up to a global technology giant—first as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), then as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Technical Advisor. In 2021, he founded the non-profit initiative Special Competitive Studies Project, which aims to strengthen the long-term competitiveness of the US in AI and technology. More recently, Eric and Wendy Schmidt founded Schmidt Sciences, a non-profit organisation that advocates for a deeper scientific understanding of nature and the development of technological solutions to global problems.