Marissa Mayer worked at Google and was the CEO of Yahoo. Today, she believes technology should help us, not control us. She wants people to spend less time tapping on their phones and more time with other people.
Helping People with Technology
Marissa Mayer worked at big companies in Silicon Valley. She helped build important tools like Google Search, Maps, and Gmail. Later, she was the CEO of Yahoo for 5 years.
Now, Marissa runs a company called Sunshine. It uses AI (artificial intelligence) to make life easier. One app from Sunshine helps users remember birthdays and keeps contact information up to date.
Another app is called Shine: Photo Messaging. It helps people organize and share photos using face recognition. This way, it’s easier to find pictures of friends or events and send them without much work.
Why She Cares About This
Marissa says:
“I wanted to think about how we can make relationships stronger. People can spend less time on phones and more time with each other.”
She believes AI can help people spend more time doing important things and less time on their phones.
What She Did After Yahoo
After leaving Yahoo in 2017, Marissa started Lumi Labs with Enrique Muñoz Torres. Later, it became Sunshine. The company focuses on using technology to help people in everyday life.
Challenges of AI
Marissa knows AI has challenges too, like privacy, trust, and government rules. Sunshine asks users for permission before sharing photos and keeps user data safe.
Her Work in Tech
Marissa has worked in tech for 25 years. At Google, Yahoo, and now Sunshine, she worked to support women in technology. She believes both men and women need to work together in good environments.
At Google, gender was not often talked about, but at Yahoo, many women were in leadership roles. At Sunshine, more than half of the team are women.
Lessons from Google and Yahoo
Marissa learned a lot at Google and Yahoo. She focused on building good products and helping users. At Yahoo, she helped grow the mobile app team and made the Yahoo News Digest app, which became very popular.
Sunshine’s Goal with Photos
Shine wants to help people share photos quickly and easily. The app uses AI to find friends in pictures and help share those photos in small groups.
For example, if you go to a birthday party, the app can find photos of people who were there and share them with those people.
AI and the Future
Marissa says the real competition in AI is between the USA and China. The future will depend on how these two countries use AI.
She believes AI will change the world and help people. She remembers when the internet didn’t exist. Now AI is growing fast, and it may even surprise us in the future by doing more than we expect.
Source: bbc.com
Vocabulary for the Article
CEO – The top leader of a company.
Example: Marissa Mayer was the CEO of Yahoo.
Technology – Things like phones and computers that help people.
Example: We use technology every day.
Tapping – Touching something lightly with your finger.
Example: He is tapping the phone screen.
App – A small program on your phone or computer.
Example: I use a weather app on my phone.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) – A smart computer that can learn and think.
Example: AI helps find faces in photos.
Remember – To not forget something.
Example: The app helps me remember birthdays.
Birthday – The day a person was born.
Example: My birthday is in June.
Face recognition – A computer sees and knows a person’s face.
Example: My phone uses face recognition to unlock.
Share – To give something to others.
Example: I share photos with my friends.
Photo – A picture taken by a camera.
Example: She showed me a photo of her dog.
Contact – A person’s phone number or email.
Example: I saved my friend’s contact.
User – A person who uses a phone or app.
Example: There are many users on Instagram.
Company – A business where people work.
Example: She started her own company.
Career – All the jobs someone has in their life.
Example: He had a long career in technology.
Help – To make something easier for someone.
Example: This app helps people remember things.
Idea – A thought or plan in your mind.
Example: That’s a good idea!
Important – Something we must care about.
Example: It is important to talk with your family.
Easy – Not hard, simple to do.
Example: This app is easy to use.
Friend – A person you like and spend time with.
Example: I went to the park with my friend.
Team – A group of people working together.
Example: Our team is building a new app.
-Vincent Van Gogh and His Best Friend: Joseph Roulin