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In 1881, Joseph Wharton founded the first collegiate school of business, and [music] it has had a profound effect on
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American society. It set the foundation for professionalizing a field that [music]
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was primarily based in sort of an apprenticeship model. And by putting an educational focus around that, he set
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the stage for generations [music] of young people and now adults to learn how to effectively engage in [music]
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commerce. When the Wharton School is created in 1881, it was a really interesting period
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of economic growth [music] in the United States. Manufacturing was taking off. Industries such as coal mining and steel
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were [music] absolutely important to the foundation of building the society. In fact, Joseph Wharton [music] built his
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wealth and notoriety through the creation of Bethlehem Steel. At the same time, however, there was a tremendous
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amount of corruption that was taking place, and there was [music] very limited regulation. And so, while there
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was rapid growth, there was no [music] way to control or to manage the growth in any productive way. That led [music]
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to a society that was being bifurcated into parts. You [music] saw the wealth creation for many people in the country,
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and you saw [music] others who were really struggling to find ways to engage in the business community, and [music]
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so the inequality between the haves and the have-nots started to grow during that time period.
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I think what we're seeing today is the role and impact of artificial intelligence on every facet [music] of
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society. And as we think about the role that business plays in society, we have to learn how to integrate artificial
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intelligence [music] in ways that are responsible, so that people still have the dignity and the opportunity to work
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in profound and [music] innovative areas while also leveraging an really incredible form of [music] technology
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that is artificial intelligence. In 50 years, it's really hard to imagine what any aspect of society will look
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like. The pace of change is happening so rapidly, but I would say the one thing we can anticipate is that [music]
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Wharton will continue to be innovative and as technology has become more and more profound in [music] society, that
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connection between business and technology, in particular artificial intelligence, will continue to position
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our school and therefore [music] industry in general to advance.