Artificial intelligence will be more profound for humanity “than fire and electricity”, according to the owner of Google.
Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Alphabet, told the World Economic Forum that the rapidly advancing technology could impact billions of people. “The biggest risk for artificial intelligence (AI) would be failing to work on it and make more progress with it,” he said.
Mr Pichai, 47, is most excited about the huge opportunities for using AI in healthcare over the coming five to ten years to really improve outcomes.
“Take radiology,” he said. “There are often times cancer gets missed and the difference in outcomes is profound. We know we can use AI to make it better.”
Experts believe that artificial intelligence will disrupt economies across the