Despite concerning voices telling everyone that artificial intelligence will cause the end of humanity, there are many who are trying to use this emerging technology as a way to improve the lives of billions of people. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, started with a philanthropic cause, and now the former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, is all set to launch his own AI-powered initiative aimed at making breakthroughs in science and technology. The initiative will be a nonprofit organization, as per reports.
Semafor reported that Schmidt is building this initiative with an aim to “tackle scientific challenges with the help of artificial intelligence”. The initiative is still in its early stages and has just two employees who come with an illustrious track record. One is Samuel Rodriques, the founder of the Applied Biotechnology Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute and the second is a professor at the University of Rochester, Andrew White who is said to have pioneered the use of AI in the field of chemistry.
According to the report, for the time being, the funding will come from Schmidt’s personal wealth but as the organization aims to pick big projects, external funds could be necessary in the future.
Schmidt intends to offer competitive salaries, resources, and computing power that is not easily found in academia. The former Google CEO believes that by availing state-of-the-art level resources, the brightest minds in science can break the ceiling of scientific advancement.
Eric Schmidt envisions scientific breakthroughs with AI
Schmidt has been fascinated by AI and its potential in changing lives through scientific exploration for a while. His article was published in Technology Review where he said, “The hoped-for revolution in climate modeling is just the beginning. With the advent of AI, science is about to become much more exciting—and in some ways unrecognizable. The reverberations of this shift will be felt far outside the lab; they will affect us all”.
“If we play our cards right, with sensible regulation and proper support for innovative uses of AI to address science’s most pressing issues, AI can rewrite the scientific process. We can build a future where AI-powered tools will both save us from mindless and time-consuming labor and also lead us to creative inventions and discoveries, encouraging breakthroughs that would otherwise take decades,” he added.