Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that the trajectory of AI is both “enticing” and “frightening.” He emphasized that AI is not just an evolution of technology, it’s about shaping the future of humanity. His comments reflect how the highest levels of technology leaders think about AI and carry implications for how this will play out for SEO.

Tech Companies Shouldn’t Be Making The Decisions

Asked if the decisions about the future of technology should be left to people like him, Eric Schmidt responded no. He cited Henry Kissinger who ten years ago said that people like Schmidt should not be making the decisions and used the example of social media to explain why.

AI Is Both Frightening & Enticing

Eric Schmidt has been an active participant in the development of computer technology since 1975 to the present. The awe he expresses for the point in time we are in now is something that everyone at every level of search marketing, from publishing, SEO, advertising to ecommerce should be aware of. The precipice we find ourselves at right now should not be underestimated and at this point it barely seems possible to overestimate it.

Given that Sundar Pichai, Google’s current CEO, stated that search will be changing in profound ways in 2025 and the revelation that Google Gemini 2.0 will play a role in powering AI search, Schmidt’s declarations about the mind-boggling scale of computing capabilities should be of high importance to search marketers in both the enticing capabilities for them and frightening realities of what Google will be doing.