Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg opened a public Q&A on Tuesday and bravely answered random questions from known personalities, including Arnold Schwarzenneger and Stephen Hawking, and the curious Facebook users.
One of the key topics that the 31-year-old Facebook founder explained is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the social networking site. The company announced the investment last month.
"Most of our AI research is focused on understanding the meaning of what people share. For example, if you take a photo that has a friend in it, then we should make sure that friend sees it. If you take a photo of a dog or write a post about politics, we should understand that so we can show that post and help you connect to people who like dogs and politics," Zuckerberg wrote.
Facebook is aiming to build AI systems in the next 10 years that could be better than humans in vision, listening and language. Soon, the system will interpret the context of each image or video that users upload and translate speech to text in different languages. This will allow even a blind person to have access to what's posted in the News Feed.
"This is a pretty basic overview. There's a lot more we're doing and I'm looking forward to sharing more soon," Zuckerberg added.
Aside from AI, Zuckerberg talked about his plans to further spread free Internet connection through Internet.org across the globe. He cited research that states for one in every 10 people who has Internet access is raised out of poverty.
"So if we can connect the 4 billion people in the world who are unconnected, we can potentially raise 400 million people out of poverty. That's perhaps one of the greatest things we can do in the world," he replied when asked about his view of technology and social media in the next decade.
Below are other interesting questions asked during the one-hour Q&A and excerpts of Zuckerberg's responses.
On staying fit
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Mark, I always tell people that nobody is too busy to exercise, especially if Popes and Presidents find time. You've got to be one of the busiest guys on the planet, and younger generations can probably relate to you more than they can the Pope - so tell me how you find time to train and what is your regimen like?
And by the way - will the machines win?
Mark: I make sure I work out at least three times a week -- usually first thing when I wake up. I also try to take my dog running whenever I can, which has the added bonus of being hilarious because that basically like seeing a mop run.
And no, the machines don't win.
On salary
Joe Byer: Why did you choose to set your salary at $1?
Mark: I've made enough money. At this point, I'm just focused on making sure I do the most possible good with what I have.
On science
Stephen Hawking: I would like to know a unified theory of gravity and the other forces. Which of the big questions in science would you like to know the answer to and why?
Mark: I'm most interested in questions about people. What will enable us to live forever? How do we cure all diseases? How does the brain work? How does learning work and how we can empower humans to learn a million times more?
The Facebook CEO is known for randomly hosting Q&A's and asking the public for ideas. Early this year, he asked his followers for ideas for this year's New Year's resolution in which he chose to read a book every other week.
