On Our "Virtual Route 66" This Week With Some #RandomThoughts Courtesy Bill Gates

 

The risks of AI are real but manageable

By Bill Gates

Less than a year ago, artificial intelligence felt like something out of a science fiction novel to many people. Today, AI models like ChatGPT, DALL·E, and more are becoming part of everyday life. And the technology that allows machines to see, read, think, write, and create (or at least seem like they can) is getting better by the day.

Naturally, as AI capabilities continue to improve, the concerns grow, too. With each advancement made, it feels like there’s another risk to worry about. For every positive headline about an AI-related story, it’s easy to picture a potential negative one—even if the doom-and-gloom is still hypothetical—from deepfakes that could undermine democracy, to increased cyber-attacks, to more cheating (and less learning) in school, to the proliferation of misinformation, to jobs being taken by machines.

I’ve been thinking a lot about these risks and the questions they pose for society. They need to be taken seriously. But there’s good reason to believe that we can deal with them: We’ve done it before.

As I explain in my latest Gates Notes post, “The risks of AI are real but manageable,” today’s and tomorrow’s AIs might be unprecedented—but nearly every major innovation in the past has also introduced novel threats that had to be considered and controlled. If we move fast, we can do it again. If we manage the risks of AI, we can help ensure that they’re outweighed by the rewards (of which I believe there are many).

You can read more about my thinking on AI on my blog now.

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