Skip to main content

Eric Schmidt on the Promise and Perils of AI

Published Date
Author Excellence

At UC Berkeley, the International House (I-House) serves as a focal point for promoting global leadership and intercultural understanding. As part of its purpose, I-House recently welcomed former Google CEO and I-House alumni Eric Schmidt (IH 1976-80) to speak at the Lodestar Executive Director’s Speaker Series. The topic of discussion during the event, “The Promise and Perils of AI,” was the intricate connection between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the I-House goal of fostering a more just and peaceful world.

Current residents, graduates, board members, faculty, staff, and even some of Eric’s I-House friends packed the Chevron Auditorium, which was buzzing with enthusiasm. Chancellor Carol Christ kicked off the conversation with some thought-provoking words.

Given how quickly AI is changing the world, the discussion focused on how this might affect world peace and the principles of I-House. After four years of proudly living in I-House, Eric reflected on his experience here. He talked about how living at I-House made him aware of the world outside of America, influenced his career at Google, and even brought him and his future spouse together!

The topic of discussion then turned to the influence that social media and other communication technologies have on our lives. Eric emphasized both their positive and negative aspects.  He voiced worries about the effects of AI on democracy, especially in the case of those wishing to do harm, while explaining many examples of the promise of AI across many facets of life, including biology, social equity, and access.

He further talked about “Text-to-Action” technology, which allows text input to produce software or applications in the future. He contended that this gives people a great deal of autonomy and may do away with the need for expert programmers. Eric left us with a provocative question for you to consider: “What freedoms are we willing to sacrifice in order to control this power?”

Watch the recording at ihouse.berkeley.edu/lodestar!

I-House Alumnus Eric Schmidt (pictured at right), former CEO & Chairman of Google, and I-House Executive Director and CEO Shaun Carver for a timely chat on the promise and perils of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of the I-House mission.

 I-House Alumnus Eric Schmidt, former CEO & Chairman of Google, and I-House Executive Director and CEO Shaun Carver for a timely chat on the promise and perils of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of the I-House mission.