Bill Gates has a lot to say about AI

TL;DR: Bill Gates, in his own words, might now be the “shrillest voice” on AI risk. He’s done a flurry of interviews (which all dropped today) sounding the alarm on a technology he thinks could destabilize the world, posted a 5,900-word blog post on how it could be the “worst source of injustice”—and says he’s been talking about it with leaders in government and the tech industry, too. The question is, will people listen?

What happened: In a wide range of interviews published today, the Microsoft co-founder sent a dire warning about how AI could drive job loss and bioterrorism. And he’s not alone. Behind closed doors, Gates says tech executives are actually “very worried” about AI—but are downplaying it publicly.

The tech billionaire hasn’t exactly embraced the spotlight lately. He acknowledged to Axios that his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein (which he called a “huge mistake”) could impact how much weight his voice has on the AI debate. But he’s speaking out now because AI has already crossed critical thresholds that make it dangerous. “I am in a state of shock that I’m sort of the first one saying, ‘This is crazy. This is insane,’” he told Semafor (a comment that Dario Amodei might take issue with).

Pathogens and paychecks: During his media tour, Gates zeroed in on the tech’s potential impact on jobs, saying that there won’t be a job left unaffected because humans will eventually be “vastly inferior to the AI doing the job.” And the other thing keeping Gates up at night: he now believes the risk of bioterrorism is about 50 times higher than the risk of a natural pandemic.

How to avoid the bad outcome: The former tech CEO didn’t only throw out bleak forecasts, though. Gates proposes an AI token tax that would make automating roles less financially attractive—and suggests that certain jobs (like athletes and childcare workers) should be “human reserved.” The billionaire also thinks voluntary AI oversight measures are a bad idea and calls for international agreements around AI monitoring: “Self-regulation on the most dangerous tool ever invented?” he said to the NYT. “No, thanks!”

Bottom line: Gates argues that his message might resonate exactly because he’s an unlikely messenger—an “innovation lover” who’s now deeply concerned. Though the fact that he’s an influential billionaire better known these days for his philanthropy than for Microsoft probably doesn’t hurt. —WK