Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai bats for AI but warns users to be 'clear-eyed'

Recalling how new technologies changed his family's life while growing up, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday pitched for artificial intelligence (AI) but warned users to be "clear-eyed about what could go wrong."

In his article titled 'Why Google thinks we need to regulate AI' published in Financial Times, Pichai said that artificial intelligence is one of the most promising technologies and Alphabet and Google are tapping its potential but there are real concerns about the potential negative consequences of AI, from deep fakes to nefarious uses of facial recognition.

"Now there is no question in my mind that artificial intelligence needs to be regulated. It is too important not to. The only question is how to approach it," Pichai said.

Quoting the examples of the European Union and the US, which have started developing regulatory proposals, Pichai said: "Government regulation will also play an important role. We don’t have to start from scratch. Existing rules such as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation can serve as a strong foundation"

Pichai said Google in 2018 published their AI principles to help guide ethical development and use of the technology. The guide helped Google avoid bias, test rigorously for safety, design with privacy top of mind, and make the technology accountable to people, he said.

He further added that the company has developed tools such as testing AI decisions for fairness and conducting independent human-rights assessments of new products. The open-source code for these tools are available online, he added.

Reiterating the fact that the regulation of AI can provide broad guidance, Pichai said that AI has the potential to improve billions of lives and its successful implementation can inspire future generations to believe in the power of technology.