Eric Schmidt Says AI Needs Better Marketing

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says AI companies have done a poor job explaining the benefits of their products. In an interview with Axios, he argued that companies emphasize the technology’s drawbacks more than its advantages, making people more likely to focus on the negatives.

Public opposition to AI has grown, including concerns about the data centers needed to power it. The source reports that these facilities became a contentious issue during the November midterms, with voters expressing frustration over electricity costs and environmental effects. Schmidt said large data centers should be located away from population centers and have their own power systems.

But public skepticism may reflect more than a communications problem. People can recognize what AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini can do while still objecting to the industry’s influence, the costs of supporting data centers, or the possibility that employers will use software to replace some work.

Schmidt remains optimistic about AI’s potential in scientific research. He expects researchers to work alongside increasingly capable AI agents, which he believes could speed up discoveries. The source notes that possible advances in medicine and science may improve perceptions of AI, but argues that promised breakthroughs do not automatically resolve concerns people have now.

AI companies have already promoted the technology widely, including through features in products from Google and Microsoft. The article argues that public trust depends on evidence that AI’s benefits justify the disruption, not marketing alone.