Google EMEA Boss Urges Media To Go “Beyond The Headlines” In Reporting On AI

deadline.com:

Google‘s head of EMEA has urged the media to play its role in bringing across the positive benefits of AI. Matt Brittin, who has championed generative AI for years, said that the media should go beyond “just writing the headlines” about the growing, invasive tech. “The headlines write themselves, literally,” he told the Deloitte and Enders Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference in London. “It’s easy to see the risks of AI of misuse and mistakes, and the longer-term risks, which are [often] described as existential.

But the biggest risk is missing the moment.” Sherry Coutu, a Raspberry Pi board member and entrepreneur who focuses on AI and learning, said she “worries” about future use of AI due to “scaremongerers.” “We shape it and we can control it, so this won’t be like innovations from the past,” she added, citing that the industrial revolution improved efficiencies by 18% to 22% and the AI revolution could up that figure to between 20%-80% on average.

Britton urged collaboration, and for businesses to harness AI training instituted by the likes of Google, Microsoft, Apple and Meta. “Philanthropy is not good enough, it has to be good business, and that has driven me and my time at Google” he added. “Not one organization can do it on their own.

If you want to harness AI for good you have to do it together.” Brittin and Coutu struck a different chord to a group of news bods who spoke earlier in the day at the conference, including ITN boss Rachel Corp.