Kent Walker has a clear message about AI. A race to develop technology is taking place between several countries, and “the only thing worse than participating in an arms race is losing it.”
Walker, global president of Google and its parent holding company Alphabet, will join international officials and experts at the Halifax International Security Forum this weekend. He described artificial intelligence as “a breakthrough in the way we achieve breakthroughs.”
On Friday, Walker sat down with CBC host Katherine Cullen. the houseshares his perspective on the global risks and benefits of AI technology, monopolies, and Canada’s online news laws.
the house14:32Who will win and who will lose in the competition between countries for AI superiority?
There are stark warnings about the risks that artificial intelligence poses to humanity. As the U.S. and China battle for dominance in artificial intelligence, Katherine Cullen speaks to Google’s global president Kent Walker in an exclusive Canadian interview about the potential risks, revolutionary rewards, and why he’s wary. He talked about the reason for calling for this. The issue concerns regulations in the face of competition from China.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When it comes to the future of AI, you said there’s a lot of focus on risk, but not enough talk about the bigger risks of missing out on the technological revolution. What happens if you miss?
The changes we are seeing in artificial intelligence are not just chatbots, nor are they just scientific advances. AI is a breakthrough in how we achieve breakthroughs. So we’re focusing on potential revolutions in materials science, medicine, nuclear fusion, and clean water for people around the world. It’s a wonderful time. We are in a golden age of science, and that is the promise of AI.
For example, AI has military applications such as unmanned submarines. It sounds like science fiction, but we’re essentially talking about killer robots here. Adversary countries like China are also developing these technologies. What do we need to realize in the face of a potential AI arms race?
It is important to recognize that the race continues. We are seeing great advances on all fronts when it comes to these AI technologies.
The only thing worse than participating in an arms race is participating in an arms race and losing. Therefore, we not only protect ourselves; [and the] In addition to contributing to the national security of democracies around the world, we also drive unique advances in these fields to stay ahead of the curve in a variety of technologies. That’s very important.
former google employee Jeffrey Hinton They warn that this kind of advanced intelligence could replace us, and it could mean “the end of humanity.” You’re saying we need to move faster. Doesn’t the occurrence of such dire consequences mean we need to act more carefully?
I think you have to do both. At Google, we talk about both boldness and responsibility, but we don’t think they’re in tension. We believe you can actually design guardrails from scratch. Guardrails need to be built in from a technical and business perspective. [and] From a policy perspective.
While new technology obviously comes with potential risks, we have learned to work with electricity, a very dangerous technology, but we are using it for far better purposes than for malicious purposes.
Geoffrey Hinton, a Canadian-British artificial intelligence pioneer, said he left Google because recent discoveries about artificial intelligence made him realize that it was a threat to humanity. CBC Chief Correspondent Adrien Arsenault talks about the risks associated with being the “godfather of AI” and whether there are ways to avoid them.
I would now like to turn to antitrust litigation. There was a US court ruling that found that your company had illegally monopolized search services. The United States Department of Justice Ask judge to order browser saleGoogle Chrome. You said that was extreme. What other options are being considered instead of breaking up Google?
The judge’s order itself acknowledged that much of Google’s success is due to the innovation and investment it has put into these tools over the years. And we want to maintain that and continue to improve these tools over the next few years. Now, the question is, we’re going to be proposing our own set of remedies later in December, but how do we tie that to the specific issues that have arisen in this case?
But do you want to stay whole?
We believe that the synergies across our products in areas such as learning, security and privacy allow us to do better work for Canadians and people around the world.
Vice President-elect of the United States J.D. Vance tweeted In February, he said, “It’s time to break up Google… Monopoly control of information in our society clearly belongs to progressive technology companies.” Are you going to fight against this new government?
We believe the way people get information has never been more competitive. AI will only expand the playing field. That’s why we constantly work with governments in the United States and around the world. Our goal is to find a win-win relationship that respects the laws of our democracy while ensuring we deliver value to our users. So far, we’ve gotten through it and I hope we can continue to do so.
The Online News Act brings that back to Canada. Google signed a deal Federal government demands news organizations pay $100 million In this country. It should be noted that this is a benefit for the CBC. But people still don’t get their news from platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Do you think this bill is a success or a failure?
We are pleased to have been able to work with the Government to arrive at a workable interpretation of the Bill. There were challenges with the original law, which we were clearly aware of. We have arrived at a process that will allow us to continue supporting Canadian Press for many years. We accept different ways to do this.
We are having similar conversations in countries around the world. However, we believe that search traffic from search engines to news organizations is actually one of the greatest forms of support that news organizations around the world receive. We want to be able to continue to provide that traffic and partner with them as we all evolve into this new digital century.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he welcomes news that Ottawa has reached an agreement with Google on online news. He claimed that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, continues to “disclaim any responsibility” regarding the issue.
Even if a future government repealed this law, would you keep that journalism fund?
We will consider this depending on the situation. What I can tell you is that we continue to work with Canadian publishers because we have a long-term interest in staying in Canada and investing in Canada. We want our news information ecosystem to be robust. That’s why people go to the web. That’s why people use Google search to some degree.
Therefore, we feel it is both a business obligation and a social obligation to ensure that publishers thrive. There are many ways to do that, and we’re open to considering them all.
