Terrence O’Brien is a journalist, editor, and producer from New York City with over 18 years of experience and is The Verge’s weekend editor. In addition to spending 10 years as managing editor at Engadget, his work has appeared on Wired, MusicTech, Guitar.com, Refinery 29, and more. He has also composed music for podcasts and feature films. In his spare time, Terrence collects hobbies at an alarming rate.
Unlike Eric Schmidt or Gloria Caulfield, Pichai didn’t mention AI. Instead, it seems the students were protesting Google’s broader politics, and chanted “Free Palestine” over Pichai’s speech as they filed out.
Quinn Nelson is one of the lucky (?) few to actually get their hands on the T1. The Trump Mobile emails kept going to spam, the site is broken, and a customer service agent asked for his password over the phone. Spoiler: Things didn’t get better once he turned it on.
In a New York Times op-ed, the venture capitalist accused his Silicon Valley colleagues of using their vast wealth to shut down debate around regulating AI. He says there needs to be a conversation about how to use AI to benefit all of society, not just the wealthy few.
A.I. is not just another technology. It could drive productivity to new heights while automating away work for millions. It could find a cure for cancer, while accelerating biological risks we’re not prepared for. It could transform how our children learn, while leaving them unable to tell real from fake. It could concentrate economic power in ways that would make the Gilded Age look quaint.
The director of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die says he’s not totally against AI and wouldn’t fault a young indie filmmaker for turning to it if they couldn’t otherwise afford to create a key portion of a film. But he is concerned about its impact. According to Variety, saying:
You almost need a rating system. If you use AI to write a script, you get an F. What people are most afraid of is that there is no transparency. People are afraid of what is real and what isn’t.”
