Google’s CEO has claimed that the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity is ‘more profound’ than that of electricity or fire.
In a recent interview Sundar Pichai, 45, said that AI is ‘one of the most important things that humanity is working on’.
He added that intelligent machines could one day help to cure cancer or solve problems arising from climate change.
In a recent interview Google boss Sundar Pichai (file photo), 45, said that AI is ‘one of the most important things that humanity is working on’. He added that intelligent machines could one day help to cure cancer or solve problems arising from climate change
Pichai was speaking at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, in an interview that aired on US news channel MSNBC on January 19.
AI is ‘more profound than, I don’t know, electricity or fire’, he claimed.
The 45-year-old highlighted that humans first learned to harness fire by understanding its dangers, adding that AI can similarly benefit us once its role and effect on society has been established.
The software engineer, speaking to MSNBC’s Ari Melber, said that humanity must approach AI carefully given its potential to cut human jobs.
‘It’s fair to be worried about AI. We want to be thoughtful about it,’ he said.
The remarks from Pichai, CEO of Google, a world-leader in AI software and hardware, came after he was questioned on the technology’s impact on jobs.
Asked whether some companies have a wide-eyed ‘shiny happy future’ outlook of disruptive technologies, Pichai said: ‘History shows that countries that pull back don’t do well with chance. So you have to embrace the change.’
Pichai highlighted that humans first learned to harness fire by understanding its dangers, adding that AI can similarly benefit us once its role and effect on society has been established (stock image)
While many tech leaders, including Pichai, push that AI will become invaluable to humanity, others argue it poses a threat to our species.
In November, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that efforts to make AI safe only have ‘a five to 10 per cent chance of success.’
Musk made his comments in a talk to employees at his firm Neuralink, which is working on ways to implant technology into our brains, according to Rolling Stone.
He added that the employees should ‘sleep well’ after his warning, according to people close with the matter.
The warning came shortly after Musk claimed that regulation of AI is drastically needed because it’s a ‘fundamental risk to the existence of human civilisation.’