Google DeepMind's Lila Ibrahim on AI Risks and Benefits: Automating Tasks, Not Tuesdays

Lila Ibrahim, the new head of Google DeepMind, is focused on helping people adapt to artificial intelligence. In a recent conversation with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin on the ‘CNBC Changemakers’ podcast, she emphasized that her role goes beyond preparing internal teams for AI adoption. Instead, it involves guiding workers, schools, and communities in understanding and preparing for AI as it increasingly influences scientific research, weather forecasting, education, and workplace productivity.

Ibrahim’s core focus is on ensuring people have a voice in how the technology is deployed. She believes that while we may not know exactly what AI will do, ‘we still can’ shape its impact by working with communities affected by it. This requires collaboration between organizations and those who will be impacted by AI-driven changes.

For workers concerned about job losses due to automation, Ibrahim advises getting hands-on experience with AI tools. Her counsel is direct: start using the technology yourself and create time for it in your schedule. You don’t have to be an expert; just begin exploring how AI can help you perform tasks more efficiently.

Ibrahim’s own daily work involves briefing documents that AI helps her absorb and synthesize. To guide her teams through this process, she relies on a set of three questions: Where are we already using AI? What barriers prevent us from using it more effectively? And where aren’t we using AI at all?

This final question surfaces the distinctly human capabilities – judgment, creativity, intuition – that organizations must actively cultivate in their people. Ibrahim notes that while AI can automate many tasks, ‘it cannot automate my Tuesdays.’ This highlights the importance of balancing automation with human input and oversight.

Ibrahim also emphasizes the need for schools to prepare students by teaching them about AI’s capabilities and limitations. She thinks it would be beneficial if teachers could work more closely with organizations like Google DeepMind to provide a clear-eyed understanding of AI in education.

Google has undergone organizational changes affecting its AI teams, including relocating its roughly 90-person AI responsibility unit from Google DeepMind to the global affairs division. This move has raised concerns among some employees about reduced independence and access to researchers developing Google’s Gemini models. The reorganization followed a leadership change with Demis Hassabis moving into a chairman position focused on external engagements.

Koray Kavukcuoglu took over as head of DeepMind, succeeding Hassabis in the CEO role. Ibrahim believes that these changes will allow for more effective collaboration between AI teams and other parts of Google.