Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sees mass unemployment and bioterrorism as real dangers of AI. He says the industry deliberately hides the risks because too much money is at stake.
In an essay of nearly 6,000 words and an interview with the New York Times, Bill Gates describes the shift into the AI age as "one of the most turbulent times in human history." The world isn't preparing for it properly, he says, and there's simply no plan.
His sharpest criticism lands on his own industry, which he says knowingly downplays the dangers because too much money is on the line. "In private, people who understand how good this stuff is, and how much better it's getting, they're very worried," he told the NYT. In public, though, they tell each other, "Hey, man, don't say that. It's bad for us - the next trillion dollars we're trying to raise."
Why the comparison to past upheavals falls apart
Part of this reassurance leans on a convenient comparison. Earlier tech shifts ended up creating more jobs than they destroyed, so this time should play out the same way. Gates sees that comfort as a mistake. The AI age, he says, is "utterly, absolutely, completely, totally different."
