--- title: "Google’s Lead AI Guy Says AI Will Be Amazing, Unless It Kills Us" description: "James Manyika, Google's head of head of \"tech and society,\" is straddling the contradictory gap between AI optimism and AI doomsay." date: "2023-08-10" modified: "2023-08-10" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-lead-ai-amazing-kills-us" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Google" tags: - "ai" - "ai industry" - "Google" - "the digest" --- # Google’s Lead AI Guy Says AI Will Be Amazing, Unless It Kills Us ![James Manyika, Google's head of head of "tech and society," is straddling the contradictory gap between AI optimism and AI doomsay.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Balancing Act Another day, another Silicon Valley AI exec straddling the contradictory gap between AI optimism and AI doomsay. James Manyika, a former technological advisor to the Obama administration and Google's freshly-appointed head of "tech and society," told [*The Washington* *Post*]() that AI is "an amazing, powerful, transformational technology." But, like others in the field — take OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Silicon Valley's [reigning king of cognitive dissonance](), for instance — he also voiced some serious concerns. Manyika was one of the many AI insiders who, back in May, signed a [one-sentence letter]() declaring that "mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war." And in his interview with the *WaPo*, the tech and society chief conceded that as a result of AI, "bad things could happen" — a convenient and ultimately meaningless position on the future of AI that leaves pretty much any outcome still on the table. ## Bold and Responsible Manyika's tightrope walking does feel notable. He's a powerful voice in the field, and is also the face of Google's self-avowed "bold and responsible" approach to AI, a mission defined by the exec in a May [blog post]() as the act of "developing AI in a way that maximizes the positive benefits to society while addressing the challenges." "While there is natural tension" between boldness and responsibility, Manyika wrote, "we believe it's possible — and in fact critical — to embrace that tension productively." Others in the field, however, were quick to point out that his comments don't really *mean* all that much. "What does it mean honestly?" Rebecca Johnson, an AI ethics researcher at the University of Sydney who recently worked as a visiting researcher at Google, told the *WaPo*. "It just sounds like a slogan." No AI leader wants to be wrong about the future of AI — but forging ahead while having a muddy-at-best stance on the risks of AI isn't exactly confidence-inducing. Regurgitating meaningless talking points isn't going to help us, especially as [many]() [foreseen]() [AI risks]() are [already starting to play out]() in real life. **More on AI executives:** [*OpenAI CEO Predicted AI Would Either End the World as We Know It, or Make Tons of Money*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()