# Humanity Is Creating Its Own AI Successors by Arthur C. Clarke > “I think that what we're doing now is in a sense, creating our own successors. We have seen the first crude beginnings of artificial intelligence.” > **— Arthur C. Clarke**, *NOVA, The Mind Machines, originally broadcast March 22, 1978* ## Sources and Context - **Original program and exact wording:** [PBS NOVA’s Arthur C. Clarke interview clip and transcript](https://www.pbs.org/video/sir-arthur-c-clarkes-vision-of-the-computer-dominated-future-nqfzwg/) reproduces the two consecutive sentences and continues with Clarke’s qualification that the computers of his day were still rudimentary. He then describes the possibility of systems that learn, improve themselves, and outpace their creators. This is a 1978 forecast, not evidence that such a successor already existed. - **Original broadcast and title:** [PBS’s 1978 NOVA program archive](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/listseason/05.html) lists *The Mind Machines* on March 22, 1978. The later clip description uses the singular *The Mind Machine*; the archived original-program listing governs the title here. - **Producer and distribution:** [PBS program contacts](https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/contact-information/pbs-program-contacts/) identifies WGBH/NOVA as the producer of *NOVA* for PBS. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s|Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s]] - **Article:** [[articles/Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession|Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Arthur C. Clarke|Arthur C. Clarke]] - [[wiki/The Mind Machines|The Mind Machines]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “I think that what we're doing now is in a sense, creating our own successors. We have seen the first crude beginnings of artificial intelligence.” — Arthur C. Clarke, NOVA, The Mind Machines, originally broadcast March 22, 1978 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-arthur-clarke-creating-ai-successors ```