An Insight, An Idea with Sundar Pichai | DAVOS 2020

the biggest risk with a I may be failing to work on it and make more progress with it because it can impact billions of people welcome to sundar pichai some of you will remember the discussion we had last year and in the meantime you have moved even up not only being the CEO of Google but also being CEO of alphabet so thank you for joining again this this exchange of discuss of ideas opinions but my first question is you have caught yourself the technology optimists and we hear a lot sometimes of concerns about technologies what makes you actually optimist well first of all terms a short thank you for having me here it's a pleasure to be back what what makes me a technology optimist I think it's more how I got introduced to technology growing up I think I had to wait for a long time I would hear about things but I had to literally wait before I got my hands on either a telephone or a television and each thing when it came into our household you know if I discretely remember how it changed our lives you know television allowed me access to world news football and cricket which I'm passionate about so I always had this you know first-hand experience of how gaining access to technology changes people's lives later on I was inspired by the One Laptop Per child project this goal to give hundred all the laptops to every child they quiet didn't get there but I think it was a very inspiring goal and made a lot of progress in the industry and later we were able to you know make progress with Android each year we bring hundreds of millions of people and they get access to computing for the first time we do this with low cost affordable Chromebooks and seeing the difference it makes in people's lives I think I think you know gives me great hope for the ahead and more recently with the AI just just in the last month alone you know we have seen how a I can clearly help doctors better detect breast cancer with more accuracy we just recently launched better rainfall prediction overtime AI can play a role in climate change so when you see these examples first and you know I'm clear-eyed about you know the risks with technology but the biggest risk with AI may be failing to work on it and make more progress with it because it can impact billions of people yeah but Sunday you you were if I if I look what what has happened in technology over the last I would even say 30 years sir was one big breaks who it was actually when alphago was beating Lisa at all I I think we haven't really understood yet the implications of this break sue and now your company Google is again at so forefront of another revolution which may have even more consequences positive or negative one it's actually see see what you just announced in quantum computing so breakthrough and I I have to say it's very difficult to understand I just know it could have a tremendous implications can you explain what we can expect from quantum computing and you are now so little you you have made a big break so now it's a extraordinarily important milestone in a last year we achieved something what's what's known in the field is quantum supremacy it is when you can take quantum computers and they can do something which classical computers cannot and and you know I like the way you characterize - did sass inspiring a milestone us the deep blue moment or alphago playing with lace at all to me you know nature at a fundamental level works in a quantum way you know the subatomic level things can exist in many different states at the same time classical computers work in ones and zeros so we know that's an imperfect way to simulate nature nature works differently so what's exciting about quantum computing and why we are so excited about the possibilities is it'll allow us to understand the world in a deeper way we can simulate nature better so that means simulating molecular structures so maybe we can discover better drugs understanding climate in a deeper way so that we can predict weather patterns and tackle climate change we can design better batteries nitrogen fixation which is the process by which we make the world's fertilizers accounts for 2% of carbon emissions and the process hasn't changed in a long time because it's very complicated quantum computers one day allows us the hope that we can make that process more efficient so it's very profound we've all been dealing in technology with the end of Moore's Law you know it's really revolutionized the past 40 years but it's leveled off so when I look at the future and say how do we drive improvements quantum would be one of the tools in our Arsenal by which we can keep something like Moore's law continuing to evolve so the potential is huge and you know we'll have challenges you know in a five to ten year time frame quantum computing will break encryption as we know it today but you know we can we can work around it we need to do quantum encryption so there are challenges as always with any evolving technology but I think the combination of AI and quantum will help us tackle some of the biggest problems we see and you and also to a certain extent genetics I mean I think quantum computing and biology will one of the biggest polluters will have a great potential positive or negative what the positive one as you're saying rightly is you know to simulate molecules protein folding etcetera - it's very very complex today we cannot do it with classical computers so with quantum computers we can but we have to be clear about you know all these powerful technologies and you know this is why you know I think we need to be deliberate and regulate technologies like AI and as a society needs to need to engage on it but some leads me to the next question actually because in an editorial in Financial Times which I've had just before the annual meeting you stated and I quote Google's all starts with recognizing the need for a principled and regulated approach for applying artificial intelligence what what does it really mean you know I've said this before at AI is one of the most profound things we are working on humanity as humanity it's more profound than fire or electricity or any of the other bigger things we have worked on it has tremendous positive sights to it but you know it has real negative consequences you know anything about technologies like facial recognition it can be used to benefit it can be used to find missing people but it can be used for mass surveillance and as as democratic countries with a shared set of values we need to you know build on those values and make sure when we approach AI we are doing it in a way that serves society and that means making sure a AI doesn't have bias that we build and test it for safety we make sure that there is human agency that it's ultimately accountable to people in about 18 months ago we published a set of principles under which we would develop AI as Google but it's been very encouraging to see the European Commission has identified AI and sustainability as their you know top priorities and it's in us put out a set of principles last week and be the OECD or g20 they are talking about this which i think is very very encouraging and i think we need a common framework by which we approach AI are you are you satisfied with those frameworks you said which have been developed until now I mean you refer to the OECD framework g20 for work it's an early start yeah but you know I'm very encouraged that they are they have a lot of commonality and that's because they are rooted in common human values so I think it's a great start but we need to get more specific and and evolve it significantly I think the European Commission is working on you know a white paper around AI and I think that's an important first step and we all need to engage as a company we are committed to engaging in the process but it's gonna need everyone from around the world AI is no different from climate you know you can get safety by just having one country or a set of countries working on it you know you need a global framework art or I would say for wool there but soon de you you emphasize a global framework now the question is how much is actually China engaged in to those efforts and don't you see the danger of the two who were circles and that at the end we end up with two different frameworks one which is more coming out of Beijing and one which is developed inside the OECD concept you know I think there is there is concern that we could you know bifurcate here but I think it's important not to do so I'm optimistic because just like in climate I think there's more alignment you know we have things like the Paris agreement the world comes together because everyone shares the climate in which the earth you know how it affects the earth and so I think that's true for AI so down the line I think that we there will be a common gravitational pull regardless of who you are to try and converge otherwise you won't be able to achieve peace and prosperity so I think that'll be a that'll be gravitational pull no we need it and actually is a food with its center for the fourth Industrial Revolution is trying to bring the parties together now I changed from omens a subject and when you look at the GDP ah see California date Privacy Act regulators start to take meaningful action to protect US consumer privacy and address I mean it's a second issue see is a glowing anti-cancer antitrust concerns Google buying up all startups which are in the let's say AI area and so on and some believers that actually companies like Google should pay I think it was called a digital dividend can you can you share with us what what is actually is the policy of Google and I have here too I come back privacy and antitrust yes sir it's a great question first of all maybe a little talk about privacy you know gdpr has been a great great template I think it gives a standardized privacy framework you know and often when we are in other countries and when we are thinking about privacy regulation you know we point to GD P R as a template I'm glad Europe took the lead on it and I think that gives a good framework for all of us to work on for us you know privacy is at the heart of what we do you know users come to Google at very important moments ask us questions we deal with people's sensitive information in Gmail Google photos and so on and so we have to earn that trust and you know today we do it by giving them control and transparency and choice around it and over time I think AI actually allows us to do this better we can do more for our users most of the data today we deal with is to help users with their information needs and we can do that with less data over time and it's counterintuitive but last year for example if you use Google's keyboard we actually now learn what to suggest but we don't send the raw data back you only compute our models and the data stays on the phones so over time I think we can do more things on device we can use AI to actually preserve privacy as we improve user experiences and I do think it should be it's important that products need to work for everyone it's a foundational principle so today if you take a product like YouTube we allow users to pay for it and get it in an ad-free basis or you have an ad-supported product it's what allows us to take information and provide many services to billions of people around the world and you know privacy cannot be a luxury good we need to make sure we develop services in a way that works for everyone but puts them first and you know is privacy enhancing and and that's the journey we are all on but ultimately it's up to users to choose on your second question I think with our scale rightfully comes scrutiny you're right we have bought startups but you know as a company we invest every single year in hundreds of startups through our venture arms we support entrepreneurs and incubators around the world you know through our grow at Google program we are trying to digitally skill millions of people in Europe alone we have skilled over five million Europeans so but scale comes the chance to work on things take a long term view on important technologies like AI and quantum computing and so you know that it gives us a chance to do that but ultimately you know we have to do it all in a way that works for society that's the real test and society has to judge whether what we are doing is beneficial and you know we want to engage constructively in the process and and and and and you know and earn our right to do that but we aren't doing you know we are in building up scale for scale saying you know we are trying to do important things for our users I'm sure let's integrates the audience for a moment and we don't even if you don't have a mere microphone just speak loud I'm sure so might be follow up if you don't mind yeah let's see anyone ill and we stick to the question of privacy or antitrust please as a mom do you run yeah hi my name is Samir Sakura I'm from the global shapers community from India first of all I'm a huge admirer and a tech enthusiast myself I wanted to ask you India's in right now it's a huge market for you your program on the next billion users is aimed at India India is right now in the middle of a data protection bill which has seen a lot of changes over the last year it was first seen as very restrictive to global multinationals like Google and other big tech companies now that it is being debated India the government has ease some of those regular regulations at either of these points Google has not actively lobbied or forth this bill they have said that we will comply with what the government says what is your view on it because you're one of the few CEOs unlike I think many of your counterparts who takes a balanced view saying that there are risks but there are also benefits people generally come out confusion they come out on either end of that spectrum what would you like to see come out of the data protection bill where the next billion users in India could could benefit but Google could also sort of you know take move towards its vision I would just a larger question and not like India but to what a social question would be if if you would design from your point of view and ideal data protection bill how would it look like it's a great question we are in the World Economic Forum we bring people together that's what the internet is all about you know the value of Internet comes in connecting the world and to do that you need a free open Internet to work at the same time and you know I see it's not just in India as Professor Schwab mentioned you know it's it's it's a big big topic in Europe and all other countries around the world politicians rightfully you know they are charged with protecting their citizens and and as part of that you know data sovereignty is an important topic as well but it is inherently a balance right and I think you need to I think countries need to focus on the highest risk yes and maybe ad productions around it but you want to you know help preserve a common Internet even in India for example if you take a product like YouTube many creators in India more than 50% of their views come from outside of India the Internet is essentially an export product you know you can build a service regardless of where you build it you can reach people around the world that's what's great about the digital economy it's it creates new opportunities and so that's the balance countries have to strike but I think you know you know I think there are good regulations GE PR is a good framework as we think about how you can protect privacy for for for your users for your citizens doesn't always mean data has to be siloed in a particular way and I think I think we need to have all those framework carefully any other comments [Music] hello my name is Kwon from Lerna Billy I actually I started from Howard Innovation Lab so we do a lot of explainable hi so and I'm big fan of Google's technology especially team I as I want you know in terms of transparency and explained ability for AI what do Google thing and what's Google's plan thank you such a great question you know one of our AI principles is that AI is ultimately accountable to humans and and to do that well explain ability is a big part of it you can imagine a self-driving car making a decision and as being able to explain I think it's worth remembering humans can't always explain how we make our decisions we think we can and we say some things but you know that's not how it really happens so I think it's worth remembering that but we are building it's one of our most active areas of research for example the counter AI bias you know last year we published research so for example if you have an image recognition algorithm and it predicts and says these are doctors we can now say what are the variables you are using to predict that these images are doctors it may say white coats that may sense but sometimes the model can say male does it have seen only pictures of male doctors and then you know it's not working well that's an example of explained ability which we do and you know we are working hard to drive that but it is an area of research but I think it's an important principle to do that before we use AI in high-risk applications and but it's exciting as well ai actually gives us a chance to do some things where humans are actually biased and we reinforce our bias to understand that counter it and do it in a better way as well so we need to invest to get there let me take one nozzle hello i'm cloud deliverance also from the global shapers community and i wanted to know your thoughts about data privacy and health related data what do you think is the direction that Google will lead the health data in in a good thing about the health care sector you know that there are already strong regulations in place you know as we think about regulating AI I think it's important to leverage regulations where they exist and Healthcare has good privacy protecting regulations in place as Google we see a huge opportunity in healthcare but when we work on healthcare when we work with hospitals the data belongs to hospitals right and that's how we approach it where we can we encrypt the data and the hospitals would have the key for it but look at the potential here and we look at an area like radiology and we people you know there are oftentimes cancer gets missed and and the difference in outcomes is profound when you take an area like lung cancer and you show the pathology results to experts very often if you show it to ten experts five people agree one way five people agree the other way we know we can use AI to make it better and so I think it's important we do that but I think these are areas in which you have to do it with privacy in mind I'm encouraged that there is strong privacy protecting regulation already in place which gives us a framework to do it well but I think healthcare off first biggest potential I think over the next five to ten years to really improve outcomes and so we are committed to doing that so forum is working together with such a Panisse government to address this issue to find the right balance between privacy and access to the data now if I look at Apple and particularly also your transition from at Google entry of a transition from now from Google to alphabet you are involved in so many different areas I mean why more sidewalk and so on and so on what how do you see the future of the company is it a child which sucks up everything or how do you see Google in five years from now we we know we will do well only if others do well along with us that's how Google works today through search we help users reach information they want including businesses and businesses grow along with search in the US alone last year you know we created three hundred and thirty five billion dollars of Economic Opportunity and that's true in every country around the world we think with alphabet there is a real chance to take a long term view and and work on technology we can which can improve people's lives but we won't do it alone in many of the other bets which we are working on where we can we take outside investments these companies are independent so you can imagine we will do it in partnerships with other companies and and and alphabet gives us the flexibility to have different structures for different areas and the way we need them to if it's healthcare we can deeply partner with other companies today we partner with the leading healthcare companies as we work on these efforts so this is we understand for alphabet to do well we inherently need to do it in a way that works with other companies creates a ecosystem around this is why last year just through our venture army invested in over hundred companies we are just investors in these companies and they're going to be independent companies we want them to thrive and succeed and so you know that's the way we think about it but I think it gives us a real chance to take a long-term view beat self-driving cars or AI and approach it with a long-term view in mind so now I'm one last question you you are now it's a top of one one of the three or four whatever you say not all the most valuable companies but most powerful companies you said you are an optimist when you wake up at night what and you cannot sleep anymore what worries you at some time you were pretty insightful when you wake up at night that is literally true yeah I do I do I do wake up at night you know and what worries me at night you know I I I think technology has a chance to transform you know Society for the good but we need to learn to harness it to work for society is good but I do worry that we turn our backs on technology and I worried that you know when people do that they get left behind to answer to me how do you do it in an inclusive way you know just coming here I was in Belgium and I went to Mallen geek you know it's a it's a startup incubator in molenbeek in that community you see people who may not have gone to school but when you give them access to digital skills they're so hungry for it people want to learn technology and be a part of it that's the desire you see around the world when we travel when I go to emerging markets you know it's a big source of opportunity and so I think it's our duty and responsibility to drive this growth in an inclusive way and so that keeps me up at night if you're translated in the in the political field I think for the supposition we have had this is the first in distribution we created new ideologies like Marxist socialism and capitalism today I think the dividing line in society between sows who in place technology and souls who reject technology so do you have also an important role as a prophet or missionary to explain that all those new technologies at the end up beneficial for humankind you know very much so search of the heart works it does not matter whether you're a student in Africa or you're a professor at Stanford you know search works the same way as long as you have access to a computer and connectivity you know that's an equalizing force and you know then that's how we need to approach technology over time and I think that's the real opportunity we have so you don't have to if I take you oh you don't have to sell only a product or manager or I don't know how many people now but you have to be as out phone to explain continuously that what you are doing is good now how much time do you devote to the cert portion of your responsibility you know I think what naturally which scale comes that responsibility I do see as a big role for us to engage externally in a partner with other institutions speed governments regulators nonprofits educational institutions reform of the World Economic Forum and an engage and I think a big part of what we do No thank you very much to have responded to those sometimes critical questions and we hope we said we can continues his discussion in the coming years and we wish you all the best in the meantime and we all will use Google substantially in the middle thank you thank you very much you

Channel: World Economic Forum

Views: 412,692

Keywords: World Economic Forum, Davos, politics, finance, economy, news, leadership, democracy, education, 4IR, technology, tech, AI, automation, work, future, world news, economist, world, forum, economic, world news today, worldeconomicforum, Switzerland, external affairs minister, recommended for you, globalization, robotics, bloomberg, documentary

Id: 7sncuRJtWQI

Length: 29min 0sec (1740 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 22 2020