Paul Allen

“As more intelligent computer assistance comes into being, it will amplify human progress.”

“I was a programmer.”

“I was the center on our fraternity team, but I was a center-eligible, so I was known for my ability to go out, and I was pretty sure-handed catching a pass in the flat about ten yards down the field. My father played high school football and was pretty good. He also played center, so I always relished the idea that we both ended up playing center.”

“The Ebola virus is unlike any health crisis we have ever experienced and needs a response unlike anything we have ever seen.”

“I believe in the power of shared data and technology to help build a better future.”

“Vulcan Inc. is a unique organization that unites commercial, philanthropic, research, policy, and technology innovation. Our goals are ambitious - from saving Africa's elephants to unlocking the secrets of the human brain to building sustainable communities and opening up access to space.”

“I grew up watching games with my father at Washington Husky Stadium. When I moved out to Seattle, I had a friend who would take me to Seahawks games in the 1980s.”

“As a programmer, you're working with very simple structures compared to the brain. So I was always fascinated by how the brain works.”

“Your dream, when you buy a sports franchise, is to win the championship, the Super Bowl.”

“I'm not somebody that just has one or two things in life that are laserlike focused.”

“Long periods can pass between the times you play for a championship, so you have to savor those moments.”

“I think it's pretty unique to see a coach adjust to the talent he has and maximize the abilities of players he has and help them keep growing.”

“You've got to enjoy time with your family and friends, and if you're involved in sports franchises, those peak moments in playoff games. You have to enjoy life.”

“My mother, God bless her, forced me to take touch typing when I was 16.”

“In the university library my father helped lead, as the Associate Director of Libraries from '60 to '82, I spent hours and hours as a kid devouring piles of books so I could follow the latest advances in science.”

“I'm trying to show people that they can activate their own passions and find their own path.”

“Microprocessors were instantly attractive to us because you could build something for a fraction of the cost of conventional electronics. That's essentially what we did with the Traf-O-Data computer - only it was too narrow and challenging an area to try to build a service business in.”

“Languages evolve; ideas blend together. In computer technology, we all stand on others' shoulders.”

“In order to be truly intelligent, computers must understand - that is probably the critical word.”

“AI2 was born from a desire to create a system that could truly reason about knowledge, rather than just offer up what had been written on a subject before.”