Monday 29 January 2018

Google CEO: AI is ‘more profound than electricity’

The head of Google believes artificial intelligence (AI) will be a bigger deal than electricity.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland last week, Sundar Pichai said the technology will save humanity instead of destroying it.

He believes AI could eliminate many of the constraints the world currently faces, helping make “clean, cheap, reliable energy” a reality.

However Mr Pichai added the risks are important and called for international co-operation on the scale of the Paris climate agreement to manage them.

He said: “AI is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more profound than electricity or fire. Any time you work with technology, you need to learn to harness the benefits while minimising the downsides.

“Countries need to demilitarise AI, that's a common goal countries should work towards.”