Mo Gawdat on Why We Must Raise AI As We Would Our Children

Mo Gawdat is an entrepreneur and best-selling author, most famously known for his books Solve for Happy and Scary Smart. After an illustrious career of nearly 30 years in tech, which included a stint as Chief Business Officer at GoogleX, Mo turned his focus to the business of happiness, not a business at all but a fundamental feature of human life. His extensive research and dedicated written work led Mo to embark on his most recent journey, One Billion Happy, which is not just the name of his foundation, but his guiding principle and mission.  In this episode, Mo sits down with Justin Geldof, Newton’s Technology Director, to discuss AI in the modern world, pushing us to think about our role in its evolution. Mo argues that instead of thinking of AI as simply technology we should be thinking of it as the newest form of sentient life. Life that we are responsible for raising. In addressing the question of whether AI will develop to have humanity’s best interest in mind, Justin and Mo discuss ethics, our role in nurturing ‘good’ AI, and happiness as a social mission. All of which are more connected to each other than one might think.  Newton is an implementation-focussed consultancy with a difference, brimming with people who have a passion for cracking really knotty problems. Find out more about the way we work at www.newtoneurope.com or join the discussion with #NewtonTalks on LinkedIn. Newton Talks is a Scenery Studios produced by Lina Prestwood, with additional editing by Jarek Zaba. Executive Producers for Newton are Kerry Harris and Michelle Bosa-Edwards. Original music composed by Tristan Cassel-Delavois and original artwork by YaYa Design. Original concept by Fanclub PR.