The great Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra, one of the greatest American baseball players, is well-known for his quotable “Yogi-isms,” which are humorous and often paradoxical statements that reflect his unique perspective on life and the game. With the dawn of large language models and the exponential growth in the capabilities of artificial intelligence, I am reminded of one of his quotes: “The future ain’t what it used to be.” It was only about two years ago that the first version of ChatGPT was released to the public, and it and other such models have now integrated themselves into our lives. Applications of AI are everywhere, and its capabilities are improving at ever-steeper rates. What does the future hold? It certainly is not what it looked like two years ago!
Some say that artificial general intelligence—or AI that can match or surpass human intelligence—is very near. Some say that it is not on the horizon yet. Some futurists are looking ahead to the singularity, where self-improving AI and advances in brain–machine interfaces will lead to rapid and uncontrollable technological growth with unpredictable consequences.
Whatever may come, I am convinced that we are on the cusp of a monumental change. As members of SSIT, we are deeply aware that all technologies, including AI, carry the potential for both progress and peril. It is our duty, both as individuals and as a society, to harness the power of innovation and “advance technology for the benefit of humanity.”
Society on Social Implications of Technology’s (SSIT) mission has never been more important, and the range of activities that we are engaged in—including conferences, publications, standards development, and chapter meetings—reflects our commitment to fulfilling our responsibilities. The theme of our annual flagship conference ISTAS 25 (10–12 September), which will take place in Santa Clara, CA, USA, as well as remotely, is “AI Evolution and Revolution” (https://attend.ieee.org/istas-2025/). Our ETHICS-2025 conference (6–8 June, Evanston, IL, USA) will focus on emerging technologies, ethics, and social justice (https://attend.ieee.org/ethics-2025/). This moment is also ripe for individuals passionate about addressing the societal implications of AI to join SSIT.
Who knows how the future may materialize? As Yogi Berra also observed, “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future!”
Author Information
Murty Polavarapu
Murty Polavarapu is the 2025–2026 president of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology. He is the president of Space Electronics Solutions, Oakton, VA 22124 USA, and the managing director of Virginia Microelectronics Consortium, Fairfax, VA 22030 USA. Email: murtyp@ieee.org.
JOIN SSIT