Android creator sees a future powered by one almighty AI
Wed 15 Jun 2016
Android co-founder Andy Rubin has spoken about how he sees artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing transforming the future of technology.
At Bloomberg’s Tech Conference in San Francisco today, the Google veteran focused on how AI could be applied to smartphones and other devices to completely change the way consumers use gadgets in their everyday lives.
Rubin noted how new computing platforms appear every 10 to 12 years, citing MS-DOS, Windows PC and mobile – ‘What’s the next platform?’ he asked rhetorically. ‘It’s about data and people training AI systems to learn.’
He explained that a combination of AI and quantum computing could result in one powerful, conscious intelligence system – displacing the likes of Siri.
‘If you have computing that is as powerful as this could be, you might only need one,’ said Rubin. ‘It might not be something you carry around; it just has to be conscious.’
Playground Global, Rubin’s own venture capital firm which invests in AI start-ups and sets up new companies in-house, could well be the support behind this dream. The executive also announced that he had invested in an unidentified quantum computing startup, alongside Redpoint Ventures, hoping to create a machine capable of performing many more calculations than current systems by applying subatomic particles.
The engineer continued that AI and quantum computing would work particularly well together thanks to their shared abilities, such as pattern matching. ‘In order for AI to blossom and fulfil consumer needs it has to be about data… robots are walking mobile sensors, who can sense their environment and interact and learn from those interactions,’ he said.
Rubin’s talk concluded with a reassurance that the concept would not lead to a sci-fi-esque robot invasion: ‘You shouldn’t be worrying about Skynet coming online… You should be worrying about what it means to compute at these magnitudes.’
