- Pichai added that AI has the potential to improve billions of lives
- He also said that a good regulatory framework will consider safety, explainability, fairness, and accountability
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has called for AI regulation in order to govern how this technology is being leveraged. In an opinion published in UK’s Financial Times, Pichai noted that “artificial intelligence needs to be regulated.” According to him, companies cannot just build technology and “let market forces decide how it will be used.”
He also noted that history is full of examples of how technology’s virtues are not guaranteed. He cited how the internal combustion engine led to the growth of travel and caused more accidents. In the recent past, the internet’s reach was cited making it easier for misinformation to proliferate.
Safety, explainability, fairness, and accountability
He also put down some starting points and guidelines. This included that international alignment will be critical to making global standards work. He added that Europe’s GDPR came as “strong foundation.” He added that good regulatory framework will consider safety, explainability, fairness and accountability. This will require developing the right tools in the right ways. According to him, sensible regulation has to take a proportionate approach that will balance potential harms, especially in high-risk areas with social opportunities.
He also noted how existing medical frameworks can be good starting points for devices like AI-assisted heart monitors. Self-driving cars will require governments to establish appropriate new rules that consider all relevant costs and benefits. He added that the health area is something that Google Health and Alphabet’s Verily are actively working on. For the self-driving cars, Waymo already operating a commercial ride service in Phoenix.
AI has the potential to improve billions of lives
He also said that Google wants to be a helpful and engaged partner to regulators. It will offer expertise, experience, and tools to navigate through issues together. He ends the editorial by saying that AI has the potential to improve billions of lives and the biggest risk may be failing to do so. He stated that by ensuring that AI is developed responsibly in a way that benefits everyone, future generations can be made to believe in the power of technology.
