Speaking at the “UN Summit of the Future” on Saturday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that he wants to close the “AI Divide” and pledged 120 million USD for AI training and education around the world, according to a blog on Google.
Pichai addressed the United Nations General assembly (UNGA) at the very first “UN Summit of the Future,” delivering the keynote speech. Pichai announced “Global AI Opportunity Fund” at the event and said that the AI education will be done in local languages, in partnerships with nonprofits and NGOs.
Pichai expressed his confidence in AI being the most transformative technology yet, and shared his personal experience as to how technology changed his life, being born and brought up in Chennai. He mentioned four ways through which AI technology has potential for transformative change: access to information in one’s own language, AI driven scientific discoveries, AI’s climate-related disaster management systems, and AI’s contribution to the world economy.
However, Pichai also cautioned regarding AI’s potential for harm as well. He expressed concerns of accuracy, biasness as well as misapplication of AI like in case of deep fakes. Pichai also called for regulations that do not give into protectionist impulses, enabling wider reach of AI technologies for equal opportunity.