An unblinking red eye stares back at its user. The system speaks in a cold, unemotional voice. “I’m sorry, Dave,” it says. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.” In this iconic scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the protagonist faces off against the world’s least helpful assistant, HAL 9000. In the name of self-preservation, the AI system overrides its orders, leading to the crew’s demise. This isn’t the future anyone wants to see. People want computers that assist humanity, not replace or impede it. They hope for a utopian, not dystopian, world in which technology helps find solutions, not more problems. Technology today is more powerful than ever - so the way we build and use it should be equally important to how it works. By putting humanity front and center, we can build technology that changes our future for the better.

Not that we have to wait until then, of course. Numerous assistive technologies powered by breakthroughs in machine learning are already making our daily lives easier and richer. Self-driving cars that have the potential to reduce congestion, pollution, and traffic accidents are beginning to surface on the horizon. While other technologies, like ML-aided translation tools, medical diagnostic software, and context-aware devices are part of many people’s daily routines. Features including Smart Compose in Gmail, which makes suggestions as users type messages; Live Transcribe in Android, which can help the deaf or hard-of-hearing receive instant speech-to-text captions in over 70 languages and dialects; or the ever-supportive Google Assistant, which helps millions of people stay on top of their daily schedules, showcase Google’s vision for creating a better future with technology.

Nowhere is this idea of helpful innovation more important than on mobile devices. Since Android launched in 2008, it has become the world’s most popular mobile platform. Advances in image recognition with machine learning mean that users can point their smartphone camera at text and have it live-translated into 88 different languages through Google Translate. And with mobile phones becoming the device of choice around the globe, especially in fast-growing markets in the developing world, it’s crucial that new tools are built with human-centered applications in mind. Helpful innovation has the potential to change the way we access, use, and interpret information, making it available when we need it, where we need it most.

This means forecasting floods and delivering warnings directly to those affected. Or even snapping a quick photo of an item, like a coffee cup, and getting directions to a nearby recycling point. Developing new technologies is not a straightforward path. It relies on advances in hardware, new discoveries in software, and the developers who build these new experiences. By focusing on “Helpful Innovation,” the Android Developer Challenge sets real-world examples of machine learning into action for users and inspires the next wave of developers to unlock what’s possible with this new technology.