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What Now? With Trevor NoahWhy AI Won’t Destroy Us with Microsoft’s Brad Smith | What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Brad Smith on AI's Promise, Perils, Disinformation, and Human Connection
- Brad Smith argues that all technology, AI included, is both a tool and a weapon, so the tech sector must anticipate abuse and build in guardrails rather than be caught off guard as it was with social media.
- He says Microsoft aims to be a principled company that defends countries without engaging in offensive operations and that upholds the protection of civilians, while building trust in countries wary of depending on foreign tech.
- Smith and Noah discuss Russian disinformation, TikTok, and elections, with Smith explaining that effective influence operations tell plausible stories and aim to convince people that no one is trustworthy.
- Smith's top near-term AI worries are bad actors scaling up harm and widening divides between technology haves and have-nots, which he says can be countered with AI-based detection, public education, and investment.
- Smith says he is optimistic that AI will help in areas like healthcare and lower barriers for curious people, and he says he wants technology that makes people better rather than replacing them.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasEvery technology can be both a tool and a weapon.
Smith uses the broom example to show that humans are just as ingenious at using technology for harm as for good, so anticipating abuse and building guardrails is essential.
AI infrastructure investment must genuinely benefit host countries.
Smith contrasts AI's buildout with electricity, which still doesn't reach 700 million people, and says that because data centers sit in a country and follow its laws, companies must earn trust.
Effective disinformation tells stories that are just plausible enough.
Smith says Russian operations avoid fanciful claims and instead weave believable tales, amplified by social media, with the goal of making people believe that no one is trustworthy.
Social media's early euphoria is a warning for AI.
Smith notes people once saw social media as the savior of democracy and missed its dangers, and he asks whether governments promising to regulate AI will also fix the unresolved social media problems.
Deepfakes and fraud can be fought, though not perfectly.
Smith says the answer combines using AI to detect AI, public education, and remembering that something being online doesn't make it true, with no panacea.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesNo country or people or set of leaders anywhere that I have found wants to see humans subjugated by machines.
— Brad Smith
The key to misleading the public is to tell a story that just might be true.
— Brad Smith
If you worry about a problem, you're actually likely to do at least something useful to solve it. It's when you don't think about the problem that by definition you'll do nothing to help address it.
— Brad Smith
if you can't sit down with people that you disagree with, I think fundamentally your worldview gets smaller, not larger.
— Brad Smith
I think AI is, is the best thing invented for curious people, and hopefully it will help other people become more curious.
— Brad Smith
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SPEAKERS
Trevor Noah
hostComedian and podcast host of "What Now? with Trevor Noah."
Brad Smith
guestVice Chair and President of Microsoft, focused on technology policy and governance.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
