The use and misuse of AI – and the dangers it could create – is one of the hottest topics in the world at the moment. Now, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shared a terrifying warning, claiming AI could “cause a billion deaths.“
AI has been around for years, and while it offers many benefits, some people remain concerned about its development. Some claim AI will take jobs from regular people, which it already has in some fields, while others argue it will create new lines of work and possibilities.
Meanwhile, the use of AI, such as a tool in medicine to find cures for diseases, or to help structure your calendar, is already here.
But recently, some have issued terrifying scenarios about what is happening within the field of AI. For example, a few weeks ago, Jacob Coxon, who worked at both OpenAI and Anthropic, quit, saying he could no longer take part in the AI race because of its dangers.
In a post on X, Coxon said he had quit his role and shared a serious, terrifying claim about what could happen next. Essentially, he accused the industry of “gambling with our lives.”
“Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing,” Coxon wrote on X.
“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible – but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger,” he continued.
Bill Gates issues chilling warning that AI could “cause a billion deaths”
Other AI experts have raised similar concerns. For example, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a blog post that artificial intelligence could “dramatically raise the quality of human life” and do all sorts of things like cure diseases, boost the economy and make many things way better.
However, he admitted he was concerned about the risks too, and that current methods could mean we don’t keep up with the development.
Now, one of the world’s most famous figures is joining the warning choir. Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates recently appeared on Meet the Press, where he gave a chilling warning about the future.
Gates, who has spoken out about AI and the future several times, claimed that artificial intelligence could help bad actors harm billions of people.
He explained: “AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that cause a billion deaths,” Bill Gates said. “So even though it’s pretty hard to get to 100 per cent [of humanity], there’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools.”
Calls for legislation
The Microsoft founder also warned that AI could make it harder — and more dangerous — to tell the difference between scientists developing life-saving drugs and bad actors creating biological weapons.
Gates continued, “I wish it was easier to distinguish good intent, like I want to design a new drug for a disease, versus negative intent, which is I want to design a tool of bioterrorism.”
Like many others in the tech industry, Bill Gates wants safeguarding measures implemented for artificial intelligence. Moreover, he proposed implementing legislation.
“You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion about what safeguards and monitoring look like. And that has to be a required thing. And it will be a little bit of overhead for the industry, but not a dramatic slowing of what they’re doing,” Gates said on Meet the Press.
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