Nobel Prizes Boost Google's AI Amid Antitrust Scrutiny

Published Date::14/10/2024

The Nobel Prizes awarded to Demis Hassabis and Geoffrey Hinton have given Google a significant boost in credibility, especially as the company faces ongoing antitrust issues. Here's a closer look at how these accolades might impact Google and the broader AI landscape.

An executive from a major technology firm has just won a Nobel Prize. On Wednesday (Oct 9), the top prize for chemistry went to Demis Hassabis, the head of Alphabet’s AI efforts, along with two other key scientists, for their groundbreaking work using artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins. The day before, Geoffrey Hinton, a former executive at Google and often referred to as the 'godfather of AI,' won the Nobel Prize for physics alongside physicist John Hopfield for their work on machine learning.

The Nobel Foundation seems eager to recognize advancements in AI and the computational solutions to key scientific problems. This recognition will undoubtedly enhance the reputation of firms like Google and executives like Hassabis. However, it also risks overshadowing concerns about the technology itself and the increasing concentration of AI power in a few companies.

Hassabis has long craved this accolade, having told his staff for years that he wanted DeepMind, the AI lab he co-founded and sold to Google in 2015, to win between three and five Nobel Prizes over the next decade. At a press conference, Hassabis called the award 'an unbelievable honor of a lifetime' and expressed his hope for winning it this time around.

Initially, Hassabis shaped DeepMind as a research lab with lofty humanitarian goals, such as curing diseases and solving global warming. However, the focus shifted after the sale to Google, especially following the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which sparked a race among tech giants to deploy chatbot-style technology to businesses and consumers.

DeepMind has since become more product-focused, though it continues to work on health-related projects like AlphaFold. The project, which reached a critical milestone in 2020, was run by a small team of just two dozen people out of DeepMind’s 1,500-strong workforce.

The Nobel Prize will likely give Hassabis a credibility boost at Alphabet, where he has been leading the company’s efforts to keep up with OpenAI. Google’s flagship AI model Gemini has faced controversies over frequent mistakes and the potential to stifle web traffic. This recognition might smooth the path for Hassabis if he aims to become Alphabet’s next CEO.

Hassabis, a former chess champion, is a skilled strategist and rivals Sam Altman as one of the world’s most successful builders of AI technology. He has pushed the boundaries in fields like deep learning, reinforcement learning, and game-based models such as AlphaGo, which beat world champion Go players eight years ago.

The accolades also benefit Google, which has faced recent antitrust challenges and a tarnished reputation as a company founded on the principle of 'don’t be evil.' With two Nobel Prizes linked to work done by its scientists, Google can more easily frame itself as a company providing services that are ultimately good for society, a stance its lawyers have been advocating. This recognition might generate broader goodwill with the public and regulators.

However, it’s important to remember the tension between the high-minded goals professed by Big Tech and their actual business focus. Google, which derives close to 80 per cent of its revenue from advertising, is now integrating ads into its new AI search tool. This adds a layer of complexity to online advertising for businesses and could make it harder for consumers to navigate through AI-generated information that Google is trying to monetize, potentially biasing it toward advertisers.

Google’s commitment to human well-being was also questioned less than three years ago when it fired two leading AI ethics experts who had warned about the risks of AI models entrenching bias, spreading misinformation, and hoarding energy. A September study in Nature showed that AI tools like ChatGPT were making racist decisions based on people’s dialect, a concern that hasn’t gone away.

The Nobel Prize is designed to recognize outstanding contributions to science, humanism, and peace. The Foundation’s recognition of AI advancements feels somewhat premature, as the real-world impact of DeepMind’s protein-folding project on the medical field and drug discovery is still unclear.

Hopefully, the prize will motivate well-endowed technology firms to invest more in using AI for public service efforts like protein folding and in AI ethics research. It’s crucial that this recognition doesn’t obscure the very real risks that AI poses to the world.

FAQS:

Q: Who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry this year?

A: Demis Hassabis, the head of Alphabet’s AI efforts, along with two other key scientists, won the Nobel Prize for chemistry for their work using artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins.

Q: What is DeepMind and what did it achieve?

A: DeepMind is an AI lab co-founded by Demis Hassabis and sold to Google in 2015. It achieved a significant milestone in 2020 with its protein-folding project, AlphaFold, which uses AI to predict the structure of proteins.

Q: Why is the recognition of AI by the Nobel Foundation significant?

A: The recognition by the Nobel Foundation highlights the importance of AI in solving key scientific problems and boosts the credibility of companies like Google and its executives.

Q: What are the potential risks of AI according to the article?

A: The article mentions concerns about AI models entrenching bias, spreading misinformation, hoarding energy, and the potential for AI to be used in ways that benefit advertisers at the expense of consumers.

Q: How might the Nobel Prizes impact Google's reputation?

A: The Nobel Prizes could help Google improve its reputation, especially after facing antitrust challenges and criticism for firing AI ethics experts. The accolades may also help the company frame its services as beneficial to society.

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