Over the weekend, Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt (you probably know him better as Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt) wrote an op-ed on artificial intelligence for the BBC.
Over the weekend, Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt (you probably know him better as Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt) wrote an op-ed on artificial intelligence for the BBC. While he does a good job of describing ways artificial intelligence will drive forward some key consumer segments (specifically, music and travel), he doesn’t go far enough in developing some truly breakthrough ideas about where AI’s headed.
That’s especially surprising, given Google’s former emphasis on “moonshots”and long-time reputation as an innovation leader.
Take, for example, Schmidt’s remarks about “smarter music,” which some people in the tech community have perceived as a shot across the bow at Apple Music. Schmidt says that intelligent algorithms can do a better job than human tastemakers at picking music: “A decade ago, to launch a digital music service, you probably would have enlisted a handful of elite tastemakers to pick the hottest new music.”
“Today,” he says, “you’re much better off building a smart system that can learn from the real world — what actual listeners are most likely to like next — and help you predict who and where the next Adele might be.”
Schmidt also says that AI has a real role to play in sorting out “real-world messiness.” The example he gives is selecting a last-minute vacation that will satisfy everyone, even “two picky kids,” while still fitting within the constraints of a family budget. If you add enough data about preferences and budget parameters, an AI algorithm could optimize the perfect vacation choice. That’s interesting, but it also sounds like something that’s possible today — not a reach goal for the future.
And it’s much the same for other consumer segments. Schmidt says that AI means “smarter filters on your e-mails, your social media feeds, your schedule.” It means more ways to apply AI to everyday life — such as the automatic captioning of family photos — and an easier way to manage the flow of information around us.
Good points, but Schmidt also cherry-picks areas where Alphabet is poised to have the most impact and areas where Google can start putting its AI acquisitions to work within the fastest possible time frame. In 2014, for example, Google acquired the much-vaunted AI start-up DeepMind at a reported price tag of $400 million.
You can almost see Schmidt’s mental gears whirring, as he thinks about each new company within the Alphabet parent company, and how AI might be applied to each of Google’s businesses in order to appeal to stakeholders. Music, check. Search, check. Email, check. Rather than leading to something completely transformative — think intelligent robots or self-driving cars — AI may end up being more of a special sauce that’s sprinkled over the company’s core assets.
And that’s a shame if AI is just about optimizing Internet ROI. Especially since Schmidt’s earlier book, The New Digital Age, which he co-authored with Google’s Jared Cohen, gives so many examples of how Schmidt is truly takinga big-picture view of the digital world. In that book, Schmidt describes how the Internet is changing the future of identity, citizenship, government, journalism, revolution, terrorism, war and foreign policy.