Eric Schmidt

Well, a simple answer to any business is if you're not using AI in your business, your competitor is and you're going to get screwed. Excuse my language. It's a serious problem because it's happening very quickly. For most businesses, AI begins by customer service. So, for example, chatbots to replace India call centers, things like that. Very mild improvements in efficiency.

You see targeted marketing now. The real change is going to be in generative AI. Generative AI, think of it as making pictures. So why do I have to spend a million dollars for a photo shoot for the product?

You see targeted marketing now. The real change is going to be in generative AI. Generative AI, think of it as making pictures. So why do I have to spend a million dollars for a photo shoot for the product?

Why don't I just have the system generate that video and not just generate one, but generate a million versions of it that are targeted to a million different kinds of customers, some of the humans can't do. So I think if you think about business efficiency, AI is the first one, that's the tactics. And then it's basically customer adoption. And then eventually it's business planning.

Why don't I just have the system generate that video and not just generate one, but generate a million versions of it that are targeted to a million different kinds of customers, some of the humans can't do. So I think if you think about business efficiency, AI is the first one, that's the tactics. And then it's basically customer adoption. And then eventually it's business planning.

Over time, there's a lot of evidence that a lot of programming can be replaced by computer. Now I'm a computer scientist and a programmer by trade for almost 50, well, more than 55 years at this point. And I don't wish my trade to go away, but I do acknowledge that the computer can probably write code equal to or better than a lot of programmers. There are plenty of examples of that today.

Over time, there's a lot of evidence that a lot of programming can be replaced by computer. Now I'm a computer scientist and a programmer by trade for almost 50, well, more than 55 years at this point. And I don't wish my trade to go away, but I do acknowledge that the computer can probably write code equal to or better than a lot of programmers. There are plenty of examples of that today.

And there are plenty of startups that are working on automating most software development. I was talking to one scientist, and one of the questions I like to ask scientists is, what system and programming language do you use? And he said, it doesn't matter. And I said, it matters to me. And he said, it matters to you, but it doesn't matter to anyone else. I said, why?

And there are plenty of startups that are working on automating most software development. I was talking to one scientist, and one of the questions I like to ask scientists is, what system and programming language do you use? And he said, it doesn't matter. And I said, it matters to me. And he said, it matters to you, but it doesn't matter to anyone else. I said, why?

And he said, because as long as I understand what I'm trying to do, I don't care how the computer gets me there. And because he's a scientist and because he knows exactly what he wants, he'll just keep generating code. He doesn't care what the language is as long as it gets him to his outcome, which in this case was a very complicated science question.

And he said, because as long as I understand what I'm trying to do, I don't care how the computer gets me there. And because he's a scientist and because he knows exactly what he wants, he'll just keep generating code. He doesn't care what the language is as long as it gets him to his outcome, which in this case was a very complicated science question.

So the fact that the innards of the system don't matter anymore is like a big deal in my little Eric world.

So the fact that the innards of the system don't matter anymore is like a big deal in my little Eric world.

Think about the millions of people who have either, or they're not good programmers, or they don't have a programmer, who all of a sudden, lots of my friends say, well, if I only had a programmer who could adapt the following, well, now they will.

Think about the millions of people who have either, or they're not good programmers, or they don't have a programmer, who all of a sudden, lots of my friends say, well, if I only had a programmer who could adapt the following, well, now they will.

It's a general rule that innovation always comes from small teams and this next generation of agents and so forth will come from both. I would expect the answer, unfortunately, to your question is both. I think the big companies are so well run and so focused on this area that they will do interesting things.

It's a general rule that innovation always comes from small teams and this next generation of agents and so forth will come from both. I would expect the answer, unfortunately, to your question is both. I think the big companies are so well run and so focused on this area that they will do interesting things.

And I also think that the startups are sufficiently specialized and sufficiently important that they'll do so. I'll give an example. Microsoft did a very good job with something called Copilot, which is a programmer's assistant. And there are now at least five startups that I'm aware of that are trying to do a product which is far, far better.

And I also think that the startups are sufficiently specialized and sufficiently important that they'll do so. I'll give an example. Microsoft did a very good job with something called Copilot, which is a programmer's assistant. And there are now at least five startups that I'm aware of that are trying to do a product which is far, far better.

Now, that competition is good, keeps both on their toes. I'm not going to predict the winner, but I can tell you that it's very competitive.