The Google exec did not mention Musk by name, though the Silicon Valley titan's predictions have been frequent and some of the most severe. But Giannandrea says such fear-mongering is based on too many assumptions. "There is just a huge amount of unwarranted hype around AI right now," said Giannandrea. "Machine learning and artificial intelligence is extremely important and will revolutionize many vertical industries, and I am very excited by the progress we are making, but it is very practical and applied progress. And I think what we are doing is building tools, like, say, the Google Search engine, that make you more productive. "This leap into — somebody is going to build a superhuman intelligence and then there is going to be all these ethical issues — is unwarranted and borderline irresponsible because people who don't understand the technology get very concerned rather than focusing on the positive effects."

I am definitely not worried about the AI apocalypse. John Giannandrea Google's AI chief

And Giannandrea believes that there is significant benefit to human productivity and potential with artificial intelligence. "Computers are incredibly powerful but they are also pretty dumb, and I think we need to work hard to make them fulfill the potential that they have and so that means teaching them to be smarter," Giannandrea says. "Technology should augment the human intellect not replace it. It should be a powerful tool to help us think better, and I think that is really the journey we are on." Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also optimistic about the future of AI and has similarly chastised dire warnings about a scary future.