Quote to Note: Fire, but Not the Wheel, Is a Loser

July 16, 2021

If Google says something, I believe it. Don’t you? Google is the Oracle of Shoreline Drive. No, not the Oracle on Dolphin Way, which is just south on the brilliantly designed Highway 101.

I had my enthusiasm for Google’s brilliance confirmed after I read “Google CEO Still Insists AI Revolution Bigger Than Invention of Fire.” The write up states:

Pichai suggests the internet and electricity are also small potatoes compared to AI.

Absolutely. AI makes possible much more than mere frightening animals at night, cooking said animals if a humanoid was able to kill it, melt substances to fabricate computers, and enable some types of power generation used to produce Google tchotchkes. AI is more, much more.

The write up continues with original secondary research from the Beeb:

“The progress in artificial intelligence, we are still in very early stages, but I viewed it as the most profound technology that humanity will ever develop and work on, and we have to make sure we do it in a way that we can harness it to society’s benefit,” Pichai said. “But I expect it to play a foundational role pretty much across every aspect of our lives. You know, be it health care, be it education, be it how we manufacture things and how we consume information. And so I view it as a very profound enabling technology. You know, if you think about fire or electricity or the internet, it’s like that, but I think even more profound,” Pichai continued.

The article points out that the Google Oracle does not define artificial intelligence. Never mind. Google says it, I believe it. My hunch is that if you want to get hired or become a consultant to Google believing that smart software is more important than fire is a precondition for becoming Googley.

Don’t believe me? Don’t understand the “profoundness” of the Timnit Gebru – Google dust up about AI? Not my problem. I believe. After walking my French bulldog, I will set on fire (a secondary discovery as you know) an America Online CD ROM.

Stephen E Arnold, July 16, 2021

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under AI, Management, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.