Category: Google
Google boss compares replacing humans with AI to getting a fridge for the first time
The head of Google’s parent company says welcoming artificial intelligence into daily life is akin to buying a refrigerator.
Alphabet’s chief executive, Indian-born Sundar Pichai, gave a revealing interview to the BBC this week in which he asked the general population to get on board with automation through AI.
‘Our first refrigerator …. radically changed my mom’s life.’
The BBC’s Faisal Islam, whose parents are from India, asked the Indian-American executive if the purpose of his AI products were to automate human tasks and essentially replace jobs with programming.
Pichai claimed that AI should be welcomed because humans are “overloaded” and “juggling many things.”
He then compared using AI to welcoming the technology that a dishwasher or fridge once brought to the average home.
“I remember growing up, you know, when we got our first refrigerator in the home — how much it radically changed my mom’s life, right? And so you can view this as automating some, but you know, freed her up to do other things, right?”
Islam fired back, citing the common complaints heard from the middle class who are concerned with job loss in fields like creative design, accounting, and even “journalism too.”
“Do you know which jobs are going to be safer?” he posited to Pichai.
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The Alphabet chief was steadfast in his touting of AI’s “extraordinary benefits” that will “create new opportunities.”
At the same time, he said the general population will “have to work through societal disruptions” as certain jobs “evolve” and transition.
“People need to adapt,” he continued. “Then there would be areas where it will impact some jobs, so society — I mean, we need to be having those conversations. And part of it is, how do you develop this technology responsibly and give society time to adapt as we absorb these technologies?”
Despite branding Google Gemini as a force for good that should be embraced, Pichai strangely admitted at the same time that chatbots are not foolproof by any means.
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– YouTube
“This is why people also use Google search,” Pichai said in regard to AI’s proclivity to present inaccurate information. “We have other products that are more grounded in providing accurate information.”
The 53-year-old told the BBC that it was up to the user to learn how to use AI tools for “what they’re good at” and not “blindly trust everything they say.”
The answer seems at odds with the wonder of AI he championed throughout the interview, especially when considering his additional commentary about the technology being prone to mistakes.
“We take pride in the amount of work we put in to give us as accurate information as possible, but the current state-of-the-art AI technology is prone to some errors.”
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GAMBLE: In huge new deals, ESPN and Google cave to the online betting economy
A simple Google search stopped being simple a long time ago. With sports scores, flight costs, and news articles being integrated into the engine over the years, it seemed the search giant could not pack any more ways to push its verticals into the engine.
But it’s still trying.
If 2024 was the year of the small modular nuclear reactor — which were approved en masse to power AI — 2025 may be the year of the gambling partnership.
‘Just ask something like “What will GDP growth be for 2025?”‘
Google and Disney’s ESPN have both inked new deals with gambling websites that will further increase the visibility of betting into everyday life.
Why not gamble?
Google announced in a blog post on Thursday it will integrate both Kalshi and Polymarket into its engine “so you can ask questions about future market events and harness the wisdom of the crowds.”
The pleasant descriptors for the American trading websites can be further summarized by noting they are simply platforms for gambling on nearly anything.
At the time of this writing, Kalshi’s feature bet is who will be nominated for Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys. On Polymarket, users can bet on when the government shutdown will end, who will win the Super Bowl, or on the price of Bitcoin.
Google says, “Just ask something like ‘What will GDP growth be for 2025?’ directly from the search box to see current probabilities in the market and how they’ve changed over time.”
RELATED: Trump DOJ ends battle with Polymarket after Biden’s FBI raided CEO following 2024 election
Photo by Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Popular gaming (not for kids)
ESPN decided to end its partnership with Penn Entertainment early, just two years into a supposed 10-year deal. ESPN provided a $38.1 million buyout, according to Sportico, and then turned around and linked up with DraftKings immediately.
Where Penn operates casinos and slots in addition to its online sportsbook, DraftKings is not your father’s gambling dynasty. Instead, the brand is fully immersed in the culture, consistently appearing as a sponsor on popular YouTube channels that target a younger demographic.
What started as a company meant for fantasy drafts has evolved into a gambling empire that tends to skew younger and has a more lenient platform in terms of what types of sports bets are allowed.
Interestingly, Penn Entertainment previously owned Barstool Sports before selling it back to founder Dave Portnoy, who would also later partner with DraftKings.
Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
No Escape
DraftKings has previously partnered with professional sports teams and leagues in the past, including those in the NFL, MLB, and NBA. Now, after also announcing a deal with NBCUniversal in September, the company’s ads will appear across every major sports league’s broadcasts.
This includes NFL, PGA Tour, Ryder Cup, Premier League soccer, NCAA football, NBA, and the WNBA, as well as Super Bowl LX, NBA All-Star Weekend, and the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
On ESPN, the integration will be more betting-based, with the network saying it will roll out DraftKings in ESPN’s full “ecosystem” to offer at least three DraftKings products starting in December.
With search engines, networks, sports leagues, and YouTubers all jumping on board with the gambling revolution, it seems a betting culture is being fully immersed into all facets of the economy … and life itself.
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