Computers will help people remember things in future

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google has envisioned a future in which people will remember things with the help of computers, a future in which computers will drive people's cars and translate phone conversations, reports Scott Morrison of the Wall Street Journal.

Speaking on the occasion of TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Schmidt said that the combination of cloud computing and powerful mobile phones will also enable Google to one day tell people things they may want to know as they are walking down the street, without having to type in any search queries.

Schmidt referred to it as a 'serendipity engine' and said that this will eventually be available to billions of people around the world, rather than "just the elites". The new computer technologies are creating a world in which people will never be lonely because they can always connect to some friend online and this future, he added.

But Schmidt was careful to note that these new services will require that people consent to sharing information about themselves so Google can better target its services. He said ongoing debates about privacy and data encryption are "healthy" because the ability of powerful computers to process and manipulate information raises issues that are unresolved.