Bill Gates: AI Could Bring Humanity’s Most Turbulent Era
(MENAFN) Bill Gates is cautioning that artificial intelligence could drive roughly two decades of economic and social turmoil, upending jobs and daily life even if the technology is handled well.
In an interview released Thursday by a technology podcast, the Microsoft co-founder said the shift to an AI-powered economy would produce winners and losers, with the potential to remake employment and force a rethink of people’s place in society.
“My big concern is this 20-year transition period, where they’ll have winners and losers and a lot of disruption,” said Gates, 70. He added that society would have to work through the turbulence before it could possibly reach an age of abundance.
Gates framed the 20-year window as an estimate, not a firm forecast. He acknowledged the period could be shorter or longer, depending on technological breakthroughs and on decisions about whether to slow AI’s development.
Advances in AI and humanoid robotics could ultimately let machines take over much of the physical labor now done by people, he said, including building homes, growing food, and even performing surgery.
Such progress could ease shortages of goods and services, but Gates suggested societies might choose to keep certain activities in human hands, among them childcare, food preparation, the arts, and sports.
The billionaire philanthropist also pointed to AI’s promise in healthcare and agriculture. But he warned that governments and society are poorly prepared for the technology’s rapid advance.
He called for tougher government oversight and technical protections against cyberattacks and biological threats, arguing that AI companies cannot be left to manage the risks on their own.
Even in the best-case scenario, Gates cautioned, AI’s rise could usher in one of the most turbulent periods in human history.
“I hate being the bearer of concerning news on this, but it’s even worse not to tell people that this is coming. We have choices as humans to make about how we shape it,” he said.
In an interview released Thursday by a technology podcast, the Microsoft co-founder said the shift to an AI-powered economy would produce winners and losers, with the potential to remake employment and force a rethink of people’s place in society.
“My big concern is this 20-year transition period, where they’ll have winners and losers and a lot of disruption,” said Gates, 70. He added that society would have to work through the turbulence before it could possibly reach an age of abundance.
Gates framed the 20-year window as an estimate, not a firm forecast. He acknowledged the period could be shorter or longer, depending on technological breakthroughs and on decisions about whether to slow AI’s development.
Advances in AI and humanoid robotics could ultimately let machines take over much of the physical labor now done by people, he said, including building homes, growing food, and even performing surgery.
Such progress could ease shortages of goods and services, but Gates suggested societies might choose to keep certain activities in human hands, among them childcare, food preparation, the arts, and sports.
The billionaire philanthropist also pointed to AI’s promise in healthcare and agriculture. But he warned that governments and society are poorly prepared for the technology’s rapid advance.
He called for tougher government oversight and technical protections against cyberattacks and biological threats, arguing that AI companies cannot be left to manage the risks on their own.
Even in the best-case scenario, Gates cautioned, AI’s rise could usher in one of the most turbulent periods in human history.
“I hate being the bearer of concerning news on this, but it’s even worse not to tell people that this is coming. We have choices as humans to make about how we shape it,” he said.
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