In a recent episode of ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, took full responsibility for Google’s failure to capitalize on social media. Schmidt admitted that there were moments at Google where they had control over an industry but failed to execute effectively, with the clearest example being social media. He mentioned that around the time Facebook was founded, Google had a system called Orkut that was truly fascinating, but they missed the opportunity to capitalize on it. Schmidt took full responsibility for this failure.
During the podcast, Schmidt also talked about his early days and how he was lucky to be born with an interest in technology, specifically Moore’s Law, which defined the wealth creation, career creation, and company creation in his life. He also mentioned that Google’s mission is to organize all the information in the world, and it started with web search. He also praised DeepMind, a company in Britain, for being the first to see the potential of AI and how it has revolutionized the field.
When asked about his biggest fear regarding AI, Schmidt said that it was not adopting it fast enough to solve the problems that affect everyone. He explained how AI can provide personalized education and assist doctors with decision-making tools. He also mentioned that AI has the potential to establish a level playing field of knowledge and opportunity at a global level, which has been a dream for decades.
Schmidt also addressed the fear of AI being the end of humanity, saying that it is much harder to eliminate all of humanity than people think. He mentioned that according to experts he has worked with, it would take far more than a single pandemic to wipe out humanity completely. Schmidt is also the author of bestselling books such as ‘The New Digital Age’ and ‘Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit’.
