Sundar Pichai defends AI
In his first interaction since the keynote session in Google I/O 2023, Pichai responded to the criticism of artificial intelligence that has been heard these days. Speaking on the podcast Decoder by Nilay Patel for The Verge.
First, answering a question on how AI can mark a platform shift, the Google CEO said, “I see it as an extraordinary platform shift. Pretty much, it’ll touch everything: every sector, every industry, every aspect of our lives. So one way to think about it is no different from how we have thought about maybe the personal computing shift, the internet shift, or the mobile shift. So along that dimension, I think it’s a big shift. In some ways, I’ve called it the most profound technology humanity is working on.”
Next, he was asked about the risks of AI and how it can reduce jobs significantly. Disagreeing, he said, “Twenty years ago, when people exactly predicted what tech automation would do, there are very specific pronouncements of entire job categories which would go away. That hasn’t fully played out…I don’t mean too lightly… I do think there are big societal labor market disruptions that will happen. Governments need to be involved. There needs to be adaptations. Skilling is going to be important. But I think we shouldn’t underestimate the beneficial side of some of these things, too. And it’s complicated, is maybe how I would say it”.
Influencer creates ‘virtual girlfriend’ using AI
Caryn Marjorie is a popular influencer on Snapchat with more than 1.8 million followers. She has now created an AI version of herself that can act as a virtual girlfriend for anyone willing to pay. Yes, the AI virtual girlfriend experience comes at a hefty price of $1 per minute. She is calling this AI voice chatbot CarynAI, and it has been created by the company Forever Voices.