Bill Gates makes a new disturbing prediction...and last time he wasn't wrong!
The emergence of the ChatGPT service, capable of creating content based on a huge amount of information, caused a lot of discussions and concerns regarding the possible risks that are associated with it. Here's what Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thinks about the future of AI and its challenges.
Many scientists and businessmen, such as Ellon Musk, have already spoken out about the dangers and risks that abuse of artificial intelligence technologies can bring. In May of this year, dozens of digital industry representatives and AI researchers, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, signed a group open letter that contained only one phrase: "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war." The main fears regarding AI are related to the ethical issue of the possible replacement of humans by artificial intelligence and the ensuing consequences, possible manipulation and AI generally getting out of control, which could lead to a global catastrophe. In principle, these concerns should be separated: while the revolt of machines is more of a science-fiction scenario for now, then fears regarding possible abuses of AI and the replacement of people in many jobs seem much more pressing.
One of the people who supports the development of artificial intelligence technologies and has a huge reputation not only in the digital and computer world, but also in humanitarian sector and sustainable development projects, is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Microsoft is one of the largest investors in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. In a blog post in July of this year, Bill Gates outlined major potential problems associated with artificial intelligence.
The main risks of AI, according to Bill Gates
Gates, in particular, named several risks. Firstly, disinformation and deepfakes created by artificial intelligence can be used to deceive people, even influencing political processes and elections. Second, AI could threaten jobs in many industries. Thirdly, AI can be used by attackers to make holes in computer systems, which can lead to cyber attacks of a global nature. Finally, the use of artificial intelligence technologies may result in people, and especially students, becoming less reliant on their knowledge and creativity. However, in his opinion, these risks are "manageable" and that humanity has already gone through stages of revolutionary technological modernization more than once and could always find measures that would regulate these innovations. "This is not the first time that a major innovation has created new threats that need to be controlled," Gates wrote.
According to Gates, AI technologies do not yet pose a threat, but the rapidity of their development and improvement should lead to thoughts about what will happen in the future. "What should these new rules be, how should these things be looked after, how should they be designated?.. There is a completely new field ahead," Gates said recently while appearing as a guest on one of the MSNBS TV channel's programs. "That's why we are engaging the government, and not just the US government, but all governments, in dialogue, as there's still time before AI becomes super powerful."