Here is a transcript of a fictional interview between Kara Swisher (Tech Journalist) and Steve Jobs (Co-founder of Apple), recorded in June 2025 at the Jobs family home in Palo Alto.
Context: In this alternate reality, Steve Jobs (age 70) has returned to public life after a brief hiatus. He is currently serving as the "Head of Vision" at Apple, overseeing the integration of AI into the ecosystem.
Kara Swisher: Steve, thank you for doing this. It’s 2025. The world is currently obsessed with "AGI" (Artificial General Intelligence). Every tech CEO is screaming that their AI is the smartest. You’ve been quiet. What is happening out there?
Steve Jobs: (Leaning back in his chair, wearing his signature black turtleneck and jeans, holding a glass of water) They’re doing it wrong. It’s noisy. It’s chaotic. Everyone is confusing "intelligence" with "information."
Kara Swisher: Explain that. The models we have now—they write code, they write poetry. Isn't that intelligence?
Steve Jobs: No. That is a parrot. A very sophisticated parrot, sure. But it’s a parrot. It’s just statistical probability. It’s a lookup table the size of the internet. Intelligence isn’t about regurgitating everything you’ve ever read. Intelligence is about curation. It’s about taste. It’s about knowing what not to say.
Kara Swisher: So you think the current crop of AI tools—ChatGPT, Grok, whatever—are ugly?
Steve Jobs: (Scoffs slightly) They are hideous. Not just visually, though the interfaces are cluttered and confusing. They are philosophically ugly. They are designed to please the user, not to help the user. They hallucinate, they sycophant, they agree with everything you say. "Oh, that’s a brilliant idea, Kara!" No, it wasn’t. It was a terrible idea. But the machine is afraid to tell you the truth.
Kara Swisher: Apple Intelligence has been rolling out. Critics say you’re behind. You’re not doing the "heavy lifting" models; you’re doing on-device stuff. Is that because you can’t build the big models?
Steve Jobs: (A slight smile) Is that what they say? Look, the PC revolution didn't happen because the computer was the size of a room. It happened because it was on your desk. Then it was in your pocket. The future of AI isn't in the cloud. The cloud is a euphemism for "someone else's computer." I don’t want my personal intelligence living on someone else's computer. That’s not AI. That’s a privacy nightmare.
Kara Swisher: So, the "Personal AI"?
Steve Jobs: It’s the only thing that matters. The iPhone is the most personal device ever created. It knows where you are, who you talk to, your heart rate, your sleep. If we are going to have an assistant, it needs to be intimate. It needs to know that when I ask "Call my wife," I don’t mean a phone number—I mean her. It needs context. Right now, these big cloud models have no context. They have no soul.
Kara Swisher: Let’s talk about the "Screen." You famously said the iPad is the future of computing. With AI agents doing the work for us, do we even need screens?
Steve Jobs: (Shakes head) You know me. I love the glass. I love the design. But... the screen is becoming a window, not a destination. In 2025, we are seeing the birth of the "Voice Era." But voice is tricky. It’s too open. It’s too public.
Kara Swisher: You mean talking to a phone in a restaurant is awkward?
Steve Jobs: It’s rude! It’s unnatural. The interface of the future is a combination of voice and... something else. Maybe it’s the glasses. Maybe it’s a pin. But the interface must be invisible. The technology should disappear. Right now, AI requires you to "prompt" it. That’s work. I don’t want to work. I want the machine to anticipate me.
Kara Swisher: That sounds a little scary. "Anticipate you." How much power do we give these things?
Steve Jobs: This is the most important question. We are building a new race. And we have to be the masters, not the slaves. The problem with the current AI race is that the engineers are building it. Engineers are great at logic. They are terrible at philosophy. We need designers building AI. We need artists building AI. We need to ask: "What is the purpose of this tool? Is it to help humanity create? Or is it to replace humanity?"
Kara Swisher: You’ve beaten cancer once. You’ve been through a lot. You’re looking at the horizon. What keeps you up at night about AI?
Steve Jobs: (Stares out the window for a long moment) The loss of nuance. We are building a world of instant answers. Curiosity is the engine of creativity. If you ask a question and you get the answer instantly, you didn't learn anything. You didn't struggle. The struggle is what makes the fruit taste sweet. If we give the AI everything, we become... consumers of intelligence, not creators of it. That is the dystopia.
Kara Swisher: So, what’s the product? If you had to launch one thing tomorrow to fix this, what is it?
Steve Jobs: (Laughs) You always want the scoop. I can’t tell you the product. But I can tell you the philosophy. It’s about "Agency." Not "Artificial." It’s about giving the user agency over the machine. It’s about a device that sits quietly in your pocket, learning your rhythm, understanding your intent, and when you need it, it acts. Without a prompt. Without a subscription fee. Without selling your data.
Kara Swisher: One last thing. Elon says we need to leave the planet because of AI. Sam says we need to merge with it. What does Steve Jobs say?
Steve Jobs: I say we need to make it beautiful. If it’s not beautiful, it’s not worth doing. The technology should amplify humanity, not replace it. We are here to put a dent in the universe. An AI can’t do that. It has no universe to dent. It only has data.
Kara Swisher: Steve Jobs, thank you.
Steve Jobs: See you on the other side.
