Google: Google CEO Sundar Pichai on what matters the most in AI development – Times of India

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been pretty vocal on dangers that artificial intelligence (AI) poses and has, many a times, advocated regulation of the technology. At the same time, he has committed self-regulation to ensure that AI products and services are developed responsibly for society. Recently, the top executive said that Google is not racing to be the first company to develop AI products and one company cannot fulfil the technology’s potential.
Pichai said AI is the most profound technology humanity is working on and the more people work to advance the science of AI, the better opportunities will be created for communities everywhere. He said that the advancement in AI development has been mistaken with a competitive AI race.
“While some have tried to reduce this moment to just a competitive AI race, we see it as so much more than that,” Pichai said in an article he penned for The Financial Times.

“At Google, we’ve been bringing AI into our products and services for over a decade and making them available to our users. We care deeply about this. Yet, what matters even more is the race to build AI responsibly and make sure that as a society we get it right,” he added.
International cooperation is the key
Google’s top executive said that responsible AI development will need efforts from governments. Pichai added that continued investment in research and development for responsible AI will ensure AI is applied safely, “especially where regulations are still evolving.”
“Developing policy frameworks that anticipate potential harms and unlock benefits will require deep discussions between governments, industry experts, publishers, academia and civil society. Legislators may not need to start from scratch: existing regulations provide useful frameworks to manage the potential risks of new technologies,” he wrote.
He highlighted that increased international cooperation, like strategic alliance between the US and Europe, will be key in AI regulation.

Pichai meets EU officials
Earlier this week, Pichai met with top European Union (EU) officials, including Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for internal market. The officials said that Pichai committed to an “AI Pact” and said that the Alphabet-owned company would collaborate with other companies on self-regulation.
“Agreed with Google CEO @SundarPichai to work together with all major European and non-European #AI actors to already develop an “AI Pact” on a voluntary basis ahead of the legal deadline of the AI regulation,” Breton said in a tweet on Wednesday (May 24).
“We expect technology in Europe to respect all of our rules, on data protection, online safety, and artificial intelligence. In Europe, it’s not pick and choose. I am pleased that @SundarPichai recognises this, and that he is committed to complying with all EU rules,” he said in a different tweet.
Pichai said Google is looking forward to building AI safely and responsibly with others so that everyone can benefit.