Scott Morgan/Reuters/File
“When we developed nuclear weapons, we let the genie out of the bottle,” Buffett said on Saturday. “AI is similar to some extent. It's out of the bottle.”
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CNN
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Warren Buffett is concerned about artificial intelligence.
The 93-year-old co-founder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway issued a stark warning about the potential dangers of the technology at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
“We let the genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons,” he said Saturday. “AI is similar to some extent. It's out of the bottle.”
Dubbed the Oracle of Omaha, he admitted to the audience that he knew little about the technology behind AI, but said he still feared its potential impact. His image and voice, recently duplicated by an AI-powered tool, were so convincing that they may have been able to fool his own family, he said. He added that scams using deepfakes are likely to become more prevalent in the future.
“If I was interested in investing in fraud, it would be the fastest growing industry in history,” he told the audience.
Berkshire Hathaway has begun implementing AI in its operations to make its workforce more efficient, Greg Abel, who heads Berkshire's non-insurance business and is expected to succeed Mr. Buffett, said on Saturday. Told.
“Sometimes the workforce is taken away, but if things go well, there are other opportunities,” Abel said, without providing many details about how the company plans to use AI. Ta.
Buffett also acknowledged that the technology has the potential to change the world for the better, but said he's not convinced yet. “It has the potential to do good, but it also has a huge potential for harm,” he says. “And we don't know how that's going to play out.”
According to the International Monetary Fund, the AI explosion is already transforming workplaces around the world, with nearly 40% of global jobs potentially being destroyed by AI. Industries from healthcare to finance to music are already feeling the impact.
Stock prices of companies related to the AI boom are soaring. Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) is up about 215% over the past 12 months, while Microsoft (MSFT) is up about 34%.
Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) stock rose 22% over the same period.
Buffett is not the only major businessman to express concerns about AI fraud.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in his annual shareholder letter last month that while the full extent of the impact AI will have on business, the economy and society remains to be seen, the impact will be significant. He said he knew it would happen.
“We have full confidence that the results will be extraordinary, perhaps as transformative as any major technological invention of the past several hundred years, including the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, and computer technology.” , the internet, etc.,” J.P. Morgan said. Chase (JPM) CEO wrote in his letter:
Dimon also recognized the risks associated with the AI boom. “As you may already know, there are bad actors out there who are using AI to infiltrate corporate systems to steal money, intellectual property, or simply cause disruption and damage,” he said. writing.
JPMorgan Chase said in January that daily attempts by hackers to break into its systems had increased significantly over the past year, raising concerns about the cybersecurity facing the bank and other Wall Street firms. This highlighted that the issue is becoming more serious.
JPMorgan Chase, the world's largest bank by market capitalization, is also exploring the potential of generative AI within its ecosystem, Dimon said. Software engineering, customer service and operations, and general employee productivity are all being transformed by AI.
42% of CEOs surveyed at the Yale University CEO Summit last summer said AI could wipe out humanity in five to 10 years, according to research shared exclusively with CNN.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale University called the findings “pretty bleak and alarming.”
Sonnenfeld said the study involved Walmart CEO Doug McMillion, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey, leaders of technology companies such as Xerox and Zoom, pharmaceuticals and media companies. said it included responses from 119 CEOs from a variety of sectors, including manufacturing CEOs.
Dozens of AI industry leaders, academics, and even celebrities have signed a statement warning of the risk of “extinction” from AI.
The statement, signed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the “godfather of AI” Jeffrey Hinton, and executives from Google and Microsoft, urges society to take steps to protect itself from the dangers of AI. asked them to take the course.
“Reducing the risk of AI extinction should be a global priority, alongside other society-wide risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement said.
