Bill Gates Calls for Major Limits on AI Development

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates argued on Wednesday that artificial intelligence needs significant limits or else the harm to humans will outweigh any potential good.

“AI will either be the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst source of injustice,” he said in a 6,000-word essay, entitled “The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical.”

Gates isn’t the first tech leader to raise concerns about rapid advancements in AI. But his essay adds to growing worries about the actions of some AI models and potential job losses, even as the AI companies and Wall Street press full speed ahead on the technology.

Gates became one of the richest people on the planet as a key player during last century’s personal computer revolution. However, he wrote that he believes the next technology revolution – AI – will be far more disruptive to society.

“Even under the best circumstances, the transition to this new AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history,” he said, adding that “I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts, and communities are confronting the challenges adequately. There is no plan to ease the entry into the AI era.”

AI can provide great benefits in field like agriculture and medicine, he argued, such as breakthroughs in preventing and treating diseases.

But he also noted that the transition carries big risks, like widespread unemployment, harming the educational and social development of children, or making it easier for criminals and bad actors – or AI itself – to cause deliberate harm.

“As the models become more powerful, they could begin to act against our interests and we could lose control,” he warned.

These significant risks must be controlled quickly, Gates said.

“If someone had a credible plan for slowing down AI advances globally, I would likely support it,” he wrote. “However, I don’t think that’s going to happen. The geopolitical and economic incentives are pushing too hard to go full speed ahead.”

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that will air on Wednesday evening, Gates said AI models have gotten dramatically more powerful at a rate faster than he expected.

“They’re now capable of causing cyberattack risk, bioterrorism risk, psychosocial risk,” he said. “I have to say I’m kind of shocked that the exact criteria that we review these models with, and the actions we take to minimize the harms, are really completely missing.”

In his essay, Gates proposed taxing AI or robots the way you would pay a human employee’s payroll tax in order to slow the shift away from using human labor. He also wants to set aside some work to be done by humans only.

“My message to leaders is: You have a chance to act now, before unemployment rises sharply, communities are hurting, and public trust has eroded,” he said. “You can make sure AI benefits everyone. And you can work with other governments to meet this national and global challenge.”