What Makes Sundar Pichai A Technology Optimist?

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai about how growing up in the 1980s India piqued his interest in tech...

Transcript

00:00I had to literally wait before I got my hands on either a telephone or a television and

00:11each thing when it came into our household, you know, I discreetly remember how it changed

00:16our lives.

00:38What makes me a technology optimist, I think it's more how I got introduced to technology.

00:44Growing up, I think I had to wait for a long time.

00:48I would hear about things, but I had to literally wait before I got my hands on either a telephone

00:53or a television and each thing when it came into our household, you know, I discreetly

01:00remember how it changed our lives.

01:03You know, television allowed me access to world news, football and cricket, which I'm

01:06passionate about.

01:08So I always had this, you know, first-hand experience of how gaining access to technology

01:13changes people's lives.

01:16Later on, I was inspired by the One Laptop per Child project, this goal to give $100

01:22laptops to every child.

01:24It quite didn't get there, but I think it was a very inspiring goal and made a lot of

01:28progress in the industry.

01:30And later, we were able to make progress with Android.

01:33Each year we bring hundreds of millions of people and they get access to computing for

01:38the first time.

01:40We do this with low-cost, affordable Chromebooks.

01:44Seeing the difference it makes in people's lives, I think, gives me great hope for the

01:49path ahead.

01:50Yeah.

01:51And more recently with AI, just in the last month alone, we have seen how AI can clearly

01:57help doctors better detect breast cancer with more accuracy.

02:02We just recently launched better rainfall prediction.

02:04Over time, AI can play a role in climate change.

02:08So when you see these examples first-hand, you know, I'm clear-eyed about, you know,

02:13the risks with technology, but the biggest risk with AI may be failing to work on it

02:20and make more progress with it because it can impact billions of people.