Solving Problems with AI for Everyone

The following is the summary of a session that was part of the 2018 Annual Conference.

Speakers

• Moderator: Kathy Matsui, Vice-Chair, Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.
• Peter Fitzgerald, President, Google Japan G.K.

Summary

Ms. Matsui said that there are many emotions evoked from discussing AI, and positive and negative thoughts behind it. She announced that this discussion is focused on what AI is, how it can be helpful, and what its benefits are.

Mr. Fitzgerald began by speaking about making Google products more useful. He highlighted using AI for classification, such as in Google Photos, and using a smartphone camera to browse the world, such as pointing the camera at a restaurant and getting a description in Google Lens. Mr. Fitzgerald explained that Google is also interested in helping people innovate. He noted that Advanced Solutions Lab is a way to understand the customers by optimizing the supply chain. Even more profound is how it can change culture by empowering people to be entrepreneurs by communicating.

Mr. Fitzgerald also spoke about how AI can help healthcare. He explained that machine learning can be useful if you have a lot of data to go through, such as screening images. There is a global shortage of radiologists, among other medical specialties, in the increasing global population. Expertise is limited, so AI could be used to process a large amount of data at a much higher rate of speed and accuracy than humans. Mr. Fitzgerald also noted that this technology could be applied to social good, such as wildlife conservation in the form of illegal fishing, flood prediction, and famine prediction.

Video

Click here to see the video of the session.