Welcome to "The Why of AI"
We’re entering a new era of discovery—with AI research and tools unlocking benefits in fields as diverse as healthcare, crisis response, and education.
So why aren’t more Americans upbeat about these breakthroughs?
Surveys show the U.S. is less optimistic than pretty much any country about the promise of AI. According to Pew research from earlier this year, just 10% of Americans say they are more excited than concerned about AI.
In Silicon Valley, we talk a lot about the functionality and capabilities of new tools and technology. But we don’t always do a great job of explaining why we’re building the tools in the first place.
As a result, many Americans are left wondering “What’s the point?”
Until you’re experiencing the benefits of AI firsthand, it’s completely natural to ask, “How will this help me, my family, or my community?”
Answering the Question
Stories about AI anxiety can crowd out the incredible good people are already doing with these tools. That’s why I’m launching this new monthly series, “The Why of AI.”
Every month, I’ll pull back the curtain on why we’re pursuing the approaches we are, share the conversations shaping AI deployment, and highlight ways people are using AI tools to make advances in business, science, their communities, and their daily lives.
That last piece is key. This isn’t a tomorrow thing—this is a now thing.
We’ve spent enough time talking about what people might do with these tools someday—it’s time to look at what people are actually doing with them right now.
Whether it’s forecasters using AI models to predict hurricane landfalls days in advance or bakers using AI tools to predict the amount of ingredients they’ll need for orders, I’ll share my perspective about what’s working now and how we can apply those lessons to the rollout of these new tools.
Acknowledging and Preparing For Disruption
Like electricity or the internet, AI is a step-change in technology. And like other general-purpose technologies, that means it will affect…
The J-curve of general-purpose technologies—first making existing things more efficient, then inventing new things—means that some jobs will change, and many more will come, including many that we can’t yet imagine.
We shouldn’t ignore the disruption people are feeling right now—there are more unknowns than knowns. Still, as my colleague and Google Chief Economist Fabien Curto Millet is fond of saying, "The future is not a forecasting exercise—it’s a design challenge!”
We have to prove that the tools we’re building really will benefit people. By working together and taking deliberate, measured actions, we can do just that.
What Do You Think?
I hope you'll join the conversation as I explore how we can meet this design challenge together. See you next month for our first deep dive.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you: What specific AI application (or industry disruption) would you like me to explore?
The focus on 'The Why' of AI is exactly the catalyst LATAM needs to address a systemic failure: the preservation of scientific truth. The global contrast is stark. In 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s proposal for the open web was supported by his supervisor as 'vague but exciting'. He built the highway of linked data. Conversely, in 1983, a female pioneer was already designing the vehicles. She developed a groundbreaking Medical NLP framework on a computer, utilizing standards to unify medical terminology years before the Web. Despite being validated by the DIALOG, MEDLINE, an analog jury lacking digital literacy rejected her innovation in 1984, pejoratively dismissing this early data science as a mere 'meat grinder' of words. At Agencia Comunicación LATAM, we are shifting the 'Why' of AI from generative novelty to Archival Justice. Evolving from my 2010 seed video🌱 'From Gutenberg to Twitter', we are producing the transmedia series 'From Gutenberg to AI' now🧬 We are actively applying to Google’s ecosystem (Flow Sessions, GNI, AI News Business Program) to mathematically reconstruct suppressed legacies. It would be an honor to have your Global Affairs team follow our journey turning AI into a forensic shield. Nadia | GPA 18.46/20
The trust gap isn’t a communication problem—it’s an execution problem. For all the progress in AI, too much of the narrative is still anchored in capability, not lived impact. People adopt outcomes that clearly improve their daily lives. In healthcare, I have lived that distinction. The breakthrough isn’t the algorithm—it’s earlier intervention that prevents disease progression, decision support that reduces variability in care, or continuous monitoring that keeps patients out of hospitals or as I saw first hand in hearing, truly enabling hearing impaired people to engage in social settings. These are tangible, system-level gains—but they only materialize when AI is embedded into real workflows, not showcased as standalone innovation. This is where Big Tech still has work to do. Not just building powerful tools, but proving—at scale and in context—how those tools translate into better, more equitable outcomes for individuals and communities. That’s the conversation that will ultimately shift sentiment—from skepticism to relevance.
CFBR
Excellent initiative. Understanding why AI is being developed is just as important as understanding what it can do. When technology is guided by purpose and focused on solving real human challenges, it creates meaningful and lasting impact. Looking forward to this series.