Alphabet's Next Big Bet: AI in Online Search and Healthcare

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is intensifying its focus on online search with AI, aiming to improve healthcare using technologies like AlphaFold. Its president, Ruth Porat, describes AI as a 'generational opportunity' despite challenges like AI 'hallucinations'. Alphabet plans significant investment in this area.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google known for its innovations in self-driving cars and quantum computing, is now turning its attention back to its roots - online search. At the Reuters NEXT conference in New York, Ruth Porat, Alphabet's president and chief investment officer, emphasized the significance of applying artificial intelligence to enhance Google's search capabilities.

Porat, in a discussion with Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni, highlighted Alphabet's integration of AI-generated insights for complex queries, a move prompted by competition including ChatGPT from OpenAI. This brings challenges, such as addressing AI 'hallucinations,' where technology fabricates information. Porat also underscored Google's investment in Google Cloud as part of its strategic priorities.

In healthcare, Porat, who has experienced two breast cancer diagnoses, noted Alphabet's efforts to revolutionize the industry with AI. Projects like AlphaFold are paving the way for breakthroughs in protein folding predictions to aid drug discovery. She described AI as a tool to restore empathy in healthcare interactions, despite the high investment costs involved, forecasting a $50 billion expenditure on infrastructure in 2024.

(With inputs from agencies.)