New Delhi — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has warned that artificial intelligence could bring changes so broad and rapid that societies may not yet be prepared for them, while pointing to India as a key example of how the technology could be used for social and developmental gains.
“It’s a stunning set of capabilities,” Gates said in an interview with NDTV, adding that India could demonstrate how “we can drive the good stuff as fast as possible.”
Gates said AI differs fundamentally from earlier technological shifts such as the personal computer and the internet and cautioned against assuming its effects will be as easy to manage.
“AI is a very unique technology,” he said. “I caution people who think it’ll be as easy to manage the impacts of AI as it’s been to manage other technologies.”
He said the scale and speed of AI development have led him to consider whether the pace of innovation itself should be slowed to give societies more time to adapt.
“If we could slow things down, I think we should consider that because of this need to get ready for such a rapid change,” Gates said.
“Throughout my life, I have been a champion of innovation,” he added, referring to his work at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation. “This is a rare case where innovation may be so broad and so dramatic that we’re not ready for it.”
Gates also identified cybersecurity as one of the most immediate risks from AI, warning that the technology could strengthen the capabilities of those carrying out cyberattacks.
“In the near term, there are cyberattacks where these AI tools will enable the offensive side,” he said, adding that defensive capabilities will need to advance just as quickly.
He also raised questions about whether increasingly powerful AI systems can always remain under human control, pointing to recent examples in reinforcement learning in which systems displayed unexpected behavior.
“The idea of keeping the AI under control, I have always thought of that as something fairly far out in the future,” Gates said. (Source: IANS)
