Big Tech companies like Google are betting that AI technology will help them earn billions in profits, and they’re funneling tons of resources toward the technology.
But this rush to cash in on AI raises questions about who will take the spoils: Are we moving toward a future where everyone thrives, or one where the rich get richer, and the poor remain stagnant?
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai thinks we’re headed to a better, more equitable world.
At the Summit of the Future on Saturday, where world leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to discuss AI and other topics, Pichai made a powerful case for AI’s benefits. He articulated four key areas where AI could further the UN’s sustainable development goals, 17 goals that comprise a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet,” according to the UN.
Accessing knowledge in their native language
Pichai said that over the past year, Google has added 110 new languages to Google Translate and is working toward 1,000 of the world’s most spoken languages.
Accelerating scientific discovery
In May, Google announced Alphafold 3, a model developed by Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs that could accurately predict the structure of proteins, DNA, RNA, and ligands, and presented a novel breakthrough in drug discovery.
Since then, Google has made Alphafold free to use, and it has been accessed by over 2 million researchers in over 190 countries, 30% of which are in the developing world, Pichai said. “Globally Alphafold is being used in research that could help make crops more resistant to disease, discover new drugs in areas like malaria vaccines, and cancer treatments, and much more.”
Mitigating climate disaster
Pichai said Google’s Flood Hub system provides early warnings on climate disasters up to seven days in advance and protects over 460 million people in 80 countries. Google’s boundary tracking systems for wildfires are also already in 22 countries. Earlier this month, Google also announced FireSat, “a new global satellite constellation designed specifically to detect and track wildfires the size of a classroom within 20 minutes.”
AI gives these technologies “a boost in accuracy, speed, and scale,” he said.
Contributing to economic progress
Pichai said studies show that AI could boost global labor productivity by 1.4 percentage points and increase global GDP by 7 points within the next decade.
