Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey (born 1954) rose from Mississippi poverty to become the most influential broadcaster of her era — a talk show that ran twenty-five seasons, a media empire spanning film, publishing and the OWN network, and a cultural authority with few equals. When she decides a subject deserves America’s attention, it usually gets it; in September 2024, that subject was artificial intelligence.

“AI and the Future of Us”

Her ABC prime-time special “AI and the Future of Us” (September 12, 2024) gathered Sam Altman, Bill Gates, tech reviewer Marques Brownlee and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Winfrey pressed Altman on whether he was “the most powerful and dangerous man in the world,” demonstrated deepfakes on camera, and framed the moment plainly: “The AI genie is out of the bottle, for better or worse.”

Promoting the special, she described her own conversion: after Altman walked her through the technology, she downloaded ChatGPT — telling herself “don’t be scared” — and called its instant answers “miraculous.” Her prescription was engagement over panic: don’t fear AI, but be disciplined, honor it, and “develop a new sense of muscle for discerning what is real and what is not,” so society avoids repeating social media’s mistakes.

Critics found the special too warm toward its industry guests — TechCrunch argued Altman and Gates were allowed to overclaim — and Winfrey herself acknowledged AI remains “beyond our control and to a great extent … our understanding.” But her posture is unmistakably one of adaptation and reverence rather than resistance.