If Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt truly believes that his company’s long-term goal is to turn out machines that are under human influence, I would have to assume he hasn’t been to the office very much lately. In what sounds like a PR offensive, Schmidt and co-writer Jared Cohen have penned a Time essay asserting that when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, humans will keep their hands on the wheel, if not literally. As if anyone can promise that once AI makes more major strides.

An excerpt:

Based on the work of DeepMind, which is involved in AI research, we believe that makers of AI should adhere to the following principles. First, AI should benefit the many, not the few. In practical terms, AI has the potential to help the doctor and the patient, the business and the employee. As a society, we should make use of this potential and ensure that AI always aims for the common good.

Second, AI research and development should be open, responsible and socially engaged. As we continue developing AI, new questions will continue to arise, and we will need to answer them collaboratively, including everyone from engineers and scientists to philosophers and activists. In particular, those whose industries will change as a result of AI will need to be part of this global conversation.

Third, those who design AI should establish best practices to avoid undesirable outcomes. Is a system doing what we need? Are we training it using the right data? Have we thought through the way any system might yield unintended side effects—and do we have a plan to correct for this? There should be verification systems that evaluate whether an AI system is doing what it was built to do.

We are building tools that humans control.•