--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: More than 500 million years ago, vision…" description: "\"More than 500 million years ago, vision became the primary driving force of evolution's 'big bang', the Cambrian Explosion, which resulted in explosive..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg" --- # More than 500 million years ago, vision became the primary… ![“More than 500 million years ago, vision became the primary driving force of evolution's 'big bang', the Cambrian Explosion, which resulted in explosive speciation of the animal kingdom. 500 million years later, AI technology is at the verge of changing the landscape of how humans live, work…” quote by Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg) > “More than 500 million years ago, vision became the primary driving force of evolution's 'big bang', the Cambrian Explosion, which resulted in explosive speciation of the animal kingdom. 500 million years later, AI technology is at the verge of changing the landscape of how humans live, work, communicate,and shape our environment.” [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Vision drove early animal evolution; now AI is poised to reshape human society, implying a parallel transformative impact. **In simple terms:** Vision sparked evolution; AI will reshape humanity. Key Takeaway Prepare for AI-driven change. Themes technology evolution future Mood optimistic cautious Type technological philosophical When to use this quote - education reform - workplace automation - urban planning Key Concepts artificial intelligence biological evolution Questions to Reflect On - How will AI change your field? - What ethical safeguards are needed? A Different Perspective AI's impact may be uneven across societies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [AI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ai/) [Animal kingdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal-kingdom/) [Big bang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-bang/) [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Cambrian Explosion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cambrian-explosion-2460177/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Driving force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving-force/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Evolution Big](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution-big-2460176/) [Force Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force-evolution-2460178/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Million years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/million-years/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-ago/) ## Related quotes > [“Evolution and the Big Bang became ideologies to confront, not theories to understand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/evolution-and-the-big-bang-became-ideologies-to-confront-not-theories/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“In the external world, she is the force of evolution, the erotic thrust at the heart of life. She is the intrinsic creative drive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/in-the-external-world-she-is-the-force-of-evolution-the-erotic-thrust/) [Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/) > [You cannot take away one atom of matter or one foot-pound of force. You cannot add to the universe one atom of matter or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/you-cannot-take-away-one-atom-of-matter-or-one-foot-pound-of-force/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“Evolution has one big rule: If there's no pressure on the system to change, then it doesn't bother.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hitt/evolution-has-one-big-rule-if-there-s-no-pressure-on-the-system-to/) [Jack Hitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hitt/) > [“Cambrian Explosion of the Technium. 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AI is made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/i-often-tell-my-students-not-to-be-misled-by-the-name-artificial/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Smart CEOs should be thinking about AI and its impact on their respective business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/smart-ceos-should-be-thinking-about-ai-and-its-impact-on-their/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [I imagine a world in which AI is going to make us work more productively, live longer, and have cleaner energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/i-imagine-a-world-in-which-ai-is-going-to-make-us-work-more/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [We all have a responsibility to make sure everyone - including companies, governments, and researchers - develop AI with diversity in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/we-all-have-a-responsibility-to-make-sure-everyone-including/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Besides publishing its own work, the Google AI China Center will also support the AI research community by funding and sponsoring AI conferences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/besides-publishing-its-own-work-the-google-ai-china-center-will-also/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [If you were a computer and read all the AI articles and extracted out the names that are quoted, I guarantee you that women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/if-you-were-a-computer-and-read-all-the-ai-articles-and-extracted-out/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Even a cat has things it can do that AI cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/even-a-cat-has-things-it-can-do-that-ai-cannot/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) ## More by Fei-Fei Li > [AI-assisted driving is a perfect platform for advancing fundamental human-centric artificial intelligence research while also producing practical applications.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/ai-assisted-driving-is-a-perfect-platform-for-advancing-fundamental/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [As for me, I'm an optimist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/as-for-me-i-m-an-optimist/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Even a cat has things it can do that AI cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/even-a-cat-has-things-it-can-do-that-ai-cannot/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Understanding vision and building visual systems is really understanding intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/understanding-vision-and-building-visual-systems-is-really/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [If you were a computer and read all the AI articles and extracted out the names that are quoted, I guarantee you that women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/if-you-were-a-computer-and-read-all-the-ai-articles-and-extracted-out/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [When I was a graduate student in computer science in the early 2000s, computers were barely able to detect sharp edges in photographs, let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/when-i-was-a-graduate-student-in-computer-science-in-the-early-2000s/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Besides publishing its own work, the Google AI China Center will also support the AI research community by funding and sponsoring AI conferences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/besides-publishing-its-own-work-the-google-ai-china-center-will-also/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [No one tells a child how to see, especially in the early years. They learn this through real-world experiences and examples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/no-one-tells-a-child-how-to-see-especially-in-the-early-years-they/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [We all have a responsibility to make sure everyone - including companies, governments, and researchers - develop AI with diversity in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/we-all-have-a-responsibility-to-make-sure-everyone-including/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [I imagine a world in which AI is going to make us work more productively, live longer, and have cleaner energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/i-imagine-a-world-in-which-ai-is-going-to-make-us-work-more/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [I really believe there are no borders for science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/i-really-believe-there-are-no-borders-for-science/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [This is the world where our children will live, and technology should reflect that diverse world. With technology and a little love, we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/this-is-the-world-where-our-children-will-live-and-technology-should/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Smart CEOs should be thinking about AI and its impact on their respective business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/smart-ceos-should-be-thinking-about-ai-and-its-impact-on-their/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [I often tell my students not to be misled by the name 'artificial intelligence' - there is nothing artificial about it. AI is made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/i-often-tell-my-students-not-to-be-misled-by-the-name-artificial/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [Weaponized AI is probably one of the most sensitized topics of AI - if not the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/weaponized-ai-is-probably-one-of-the-most-sensitized-topics-of-ai-if/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) [Explore all 55 Fei-Fei Li quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) ## More AI quotes > [Having been trained as a computer scientist in the '90s, everybody knew that AI didn't work. People tried it. They tried neural nets, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergey-brin/having-been-trained-as-a-computer-scientist-in-the-90s-everybody-knew/) [Sergey Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergey-brin/) > [AI and other emerging technologies will determine the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-husted/ai-and-other-emerging-technologies-will-determine-the-future/) [Jon Husted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-husted/) > [“Stomach full of jitters, little beasts that were second cousins to guacamolians—little green monsters that wreaked havoc in your stomach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kely-mcclung/stomach-full-of-jitters-little-beasts-that-were-second-cousins-to/) [William Kely McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kely-mcclung/) > [“Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that your cat is not with you. If you close your eyes and further imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-cat-but-that-your-cat-is-not/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [AI might be a powerful technology, but things won't get better simply by adding AI.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-ming/ai-might-be-a-powerful-technology-but-things-won-t-get-better-simply/) [Vivienne Ming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-ming/) > [OpenAI is doing important work by releasing tools which promote AI to be developed in the open. Compute power is largely produced by NVIDIA…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ehrsam/openai-is-doing-important-work-by-releasing-tools-which-promote-ai-to/) [Fred Ehrsam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ehrsam/) > [It's hard for me to speculate about what motivates somebody like Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk to talk so extensively about AI. I'd have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-etzioni/it-s-hard-for-me-to-speculate-about-what-motivates-somebody-like/) [Oren Etzioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-etzioni/) > [If you could train an AI to be a Buddhist, it would probably be pretty good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/if-you-could-train-an-ai-to-be-a-buddhist-it-would-probably-be-pretty/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [“In the race to scale a startup, overlooking financial planning is like to building a skyscraper on shaky ground. True growth stems from decisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-hishmeh/in-the-race-to-scale-a-startup-overlooking-financial-planning-is-like/) [Jason Hishmeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-hishmeh/) > [I'm a geek through and through. My last job at Microsoft was leading much of the search engine relevance work on Bing. There we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramez-naam/i-m-a-geek-through-and-through-my-last-job-at-microsoft-was-leading/) [Ramez Naam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramez-naam/) > [Emotion AI will be ingrained in the technologies we use every day, running in the background, making our tech interactions more personalized, relevant, authentic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-el-kaliouby/emotion-ai-will-be-ingrained-in-the-technologies-we-use-every-day/) [Rana el Kaliouby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rana-el-kaliouby/) > [Even a cat has things it can do that AI cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/even-a-cat-has-things-it-can-do-that-ai-cannot/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [AI is a tool. The choice about how it gets deployed is ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-etzioni/ai-is-a-tool-the-choice-about-how-it-gets-deployed-is-ours/) [Oren Etzioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-etzioni/) > [I joined Baidu in 2014 to work on AI. Since then, Baidu's AI group has grown to roughly 1,300 people, which includes the 300-person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-ng/i-joined-baidu-in-2014-to-work-on-ai-since-then-baidu-s-ai-group-has/) [Andrew Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-ng/) > [“But on the question of whether the robots will eventually take over, he { Rodney A. Brooks } says that this will probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/but-on-the-question-of-whether-the-robots-will-eventually-take-over/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) [Browse all 315 AI quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ai/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "More than 500 million years ago, vision became the primary driving force of evolution's 'big bang', the Cambrian Explosion, which resulted in explosive speciation of the animal kingdom. 500 million years later, AI technology is at the verge of changing the landscape of how humans live, work, communicate,and shape our environment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fei-Fei Li" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-became-the-primary-driving/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "AI" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-became-the-primary-driving/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbc/fei-fei-li-12223_ai_more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-b_1044325.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“More than 500 million years ago, vision became the primary driving force of evolution's 'big bang', the…” — Fei-Fei Li", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fei-Fei Li", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "More than 500 million years ago,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-became-the-primary-driving/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/more-than-500-million-years-ago-vision-became-the-primary-driving/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```