Today the discussion of political superpowers has become shockingly commonplace, but in the field of technology there are four superpowers in particular that may be our greatest forces for good.

Those emerging technological superpowers are mobile networks, cloud storage, artificial intelligence and the “internet of things.” In fact, “those four superpowers are reinforcing each other today,” said Pat Gelsinger (pictured), chief executive officer of VMware Inc. There’s an opportunity to use those superpowers to improve the quality of life for humans everywhere on the planet, he added.

Gelsinger recently spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the ACGSV 14th Annual GROW! Awards in Mountain View, California. They discussed the power of technology in its many forms and how it is the responsibility of the tech community to shape those powers for good.

Technology, a powerful tool

Technology is a growing benefit to humans and human society at an exponentially growing rate. In the last 50 years, technology has helped extend human life nearly 20 years and “taken extreme poverty from over 40 percent globally to less than 10 percent,” according to Gelsinger.

As humans evolve and find new ways to integrate technology into everyday life, the more useful and powerful technology will become, he added.

There are many ways that technology can be used to do “bad,” but what’s most important are the ways it has helped society grow. Technology is present and necessary in fields like agriculture, medicine, energy and so many more. And companies such as Node Africa are even helping to deliver cloud infrastructure to farming and agricultural services in Kenya, Gelsinger pointed out.

“We work with [Node Africa] to deliver … the most basic things that give people market access, give people cropped information, and literally are lifting people out of poverty in the country of Kenya today,” he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the ACGSV 14th Annual GROW! Awards. (* Disclosure: TheCUBEis a paid media partner for the ACGSV 14th Annual GROW! Award. Neither the Association for Corporate Growth Silicon Valley, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE