Bill Gates Warns Rise Of AI Will Be One Of The 'Most Turbulent Times In Human History' In Alarming New Essay

On Wednesday, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sounded the alarm on artificial intelligence with an essay published on his website titled "The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical."

The essay began by stating:

"The transition to the AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history."

"Right now, we are not preparing adequately for that transition."

"If the world takes the right steps, AI will be a force for good and leave everyone better off."

In his essay, Gates gave three big risks that global leaders need to address:

1. "Many jobs will disappear forever."
2. "AI will empower people (and perhaps AIs) to do more harm."
3. "AI could stunt our kids’ development and replace human relationships."

Gates added:

"AI will either be the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst source of injustice."

"We need time to prepare for the social, political, and economic upheaval."

In addition to his essay, Gates also appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 to share similar warnings.

In his essay, Gates warned:

"Even criminals with very limited skills will be able to target victims at every scale... AI models could begin to act against our interests and we could lose control... The same tool that will allow people to learn more than ever could also lead to many people learning less."

People largely concurred with Gates' assessment, if not necessarily the messenger.

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Gates offered some solutions after stating "the world needs a plan":

• "Build a new system for managing the transition."
• "Set aside some jobs for humans."
• "Rebalance how we tax labor and capital."

The billionaire tech mogul added his message to world leaders:

"You have a chance to act now, before unemployment rises sharply, communities are hurting, and public trust has eroded. You can make sure that your government handles the problem holistically, rather than divvying it up into multiple bureaucratic fiefdoms."

"You can make sure AI benefits everyone. And you can work with other governments to meet this national and global challenge."

Whether warnings from Gates speak louder than money from people like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison remains to be seen.