Eric Schmidt: I Was Skeptical About AI at First

Artificial intelligence research should be done publicly and for the public good, according to Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, who admitted to not initially recognizing the importance of AI. In a speech here at RSA, Schmidt argued that AI research "should be done in the open," lest the work encourage paranoia and suspicion between countries. "The research should be done for the benefit of the many, not the few, and should apply to every human," he said. Diversity of though is also important, he stressed. "More people looking at it means a better outcome," he said.