Google CEO: Computers Are Going To Take Our Jobs, And 'There's No Way Around That'

Google+/Larry Page Google CEO Larry Page

When Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin formed the company in 1998, they sought to package all the information on the internet into an index that's simple to use.

Today, Google is much more than a search engine. The company appears to be involved in every type of new technology ranging from self-driving cars to contact lenses that can test for disease.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, CEO Larry Page provided some insight as to why the company has decided to take on so many different tasks.

Part of the reason is because Page believes there's this inevitable shift coming in which computers will be much better-suited to take on most jobs. 

"You can't wish away these things from happening, they are going to happen," he told the Financial Times on the subject of artificial intelligence infringing on the job market. "You're going to have some very amazing capabilities in the economy. When we have computers that can do more and more jobs, it's going to change how we think about work. There's no way around that. You can't wish it away."

But people shouldn't fear computers taking over their occupations, according to Page, who says it "doesn't make sense" for people to work so much.

"The idea that everyone should slavishly work so they do something inefficiently so they keep their job — that just doesn't make any sense to me," he told the Financial Times. "That can't be the right answer." 

Based on Page's quotes in the Financial Times, it sounds as if he feels like Google has an obligation to invest in forward-thinking technologies.

"...We have all these billions we should be investing to make people's lives better," Page said to the Financial Times. "If we just do the same thing we did before and don't do something new, it seems like a crime to me."

You can read the full interview with Page here >>

ORIGINAL: BusinessInsider

By LISA EADICICCO

OCT. 31, 2014