New Delhi [India], September 2 : Artificial intelligence is set to move beyond laboratories and early adopters over the next five years and increasingly become part of the everyday work of healthcare workers, government officials, farmers, developers and entrepreneurs, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has said.
Pichai made the remarks in a special message marking 75 years of IIT Kharagpur, his alma mater, as he reflected on the role universities and young Indians could play in the next phase of technological change.
"When I look at the next five years, I see AI moving away from the lab and the early adopters and into the hands of people doing the work, the healthcare workers, the government officials, the farmers, developers and entrepreneurs," Pichai said in the video message shared by IIT Kharagpur.
"We are building AI so that it can help all of us do our work at the next level and do it in a more fulfilling way," he added.
Pichai said India is increasingly creating innovations that can have an impact beyond the country and that universities will have an important role in ensuring that the benefits of AI reach more people.
"More and more, India is creating innovations that can benefit the whole world. And this ambitious, optimistic new generation of Indians have the chance to reimagine what's possible for the country," he said.
"I believe that AI can help amplify this potential and universities are crucial to making sure it's helpful to everyone," Pichai added.
IIT Kharagpur said it reflected "the enduring global impact of the IIT ecosystem and the power of education, innovation and technology to transform lives and shape the future."
Pichai graduated from IIT Kharagpur in 1993 with a B Tech in Metallurgical Engineering and is a distinguished alumnus of the institute. He later completed a master's degree at Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School.
Pichai joined Google in 2004 and worked on products including Google Toolbar and Chrome before taking charge of product and engineering across Google's major platforms. He became Google's CEO in 2015 and took over as CEO of parent company Alphabet in December 2019.
He now leads Google as the company puts AI at the centre of its product strategy, including Search, Cloud and its Gemini family of artificial intelligence models and applications. Alphabet's latest regulatory filings say that under Pichai, the company's strategy has shifted towards AI, which is now driving advances across its portfolio.
Reflecting on IIT Kharagpur's future, Pichai said, "The role of IIT Kharagpur will only grow in importance as you lead the next wave of technology."