The philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder told Sky's “The World with Yalda Hakim” that artificial intelligence makes innovation “a lot easier”, but he also warned of the dangers of the technology being used for cyber attacks and political interference.
Wednesday 26 June 2024 22:17 UK
Bill Gates said artificial intelligence (AI) will speed up innovation and make it easier to fight climate change, but he warned that it “has to be used by good people.”
A philanthropist Microsoft The co-founder made the comments during an interview with Sky News at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in London.
Gates Said Yalda Hakim and the World He said that while AI has played a “fairly modest role” in tackling climate change so far, it will now “make it much easier” to innovate.
“AI helps us model things in science, to better understand how to make materials, catalysts and proteins,” he said.
“AI will accelerate innovation in every field, whether it's healthcare or tutoring or educational assistance.”
“[With] climate [change]Some of the more complex stuff, like modeling fusion energy, is thankfully artificial intelligence It makes it much easier to do that.”
Asked whether he was concerned about suggestions that such technology could be used to overthrow governments, Gates said he had “never heard of that scenario.”
“AI is so important that we need to make sure it's used primarily by people with good intentions,” he said.
He added that “whenever new technology emerges” it is “primarily used to help teachers, doctors and scientists work more effectively”, but “AI can also be used by people engaged in cyber attacks and political interference”.
“So we need good people to stay ahead of the curve in detecting and preventing that type of use,” he said.
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“If you cheat people, you will be punished.”
Gates went on to say that there is nothing “huge” about AI, adding that “misinformation exists, but it has nothing to do with AI.”
He said people should “expect” that AI could be used to create fake videos, which should be marked as not real.
“People still believe it's real because videos are harder to fake, whereas we know anyone can type something printed on paper,” he said, urging people to ask themselves: “Where did this come from?”
“Laws will be enacted that will provide penalties for cheating people,” he added.
But he remains optimistic about the future, adding that “the most important thing is medical advances, education advances and we continue to accelerate our efforts and innovation to tackle this climate problem.”
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“Amazing technology”
He was asked whether AI could be used for cyber attacks. Hospitals and other infrastructureGates said that as infrastructure like water and electricity gets built, defenders will have to get smarter than attackers, and “both sides will use AI to step up their game.”
When asked if he was worried about the future of AI, he said it was “an amazing technology that can be used for education and health.”
“There will be changes that will force governments to think about how they act,” Gates said. “And it will be a question of whether people trust their governments to step in and take those actions. How agile will governments be?”[s] Become one?
“So this conversation that the government is starting to pay attention to is incredibly important.”
