Shafaqna English- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has warned that artificial intelligence could cause up to a billion deaths if used maliciously, calling for governments to impose stronger regulations on the technology.
Speaking to NBC News’ Meet the Press on Friday, Gates said AI was powerful enough to drive events resulting in mass casualties and urged Washington not to leave oversight solely to technology companies. He also warned that malicious actors using increasingly advanced AI tools could pose an unprecedented threat.
“AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that… cause a billion deaths,” he added. “Even though it’s pretty hard to get to 100%, there’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people of ill intent using the latest AI tools.”
Gates has previously warned that AI could either become a major force for equality or a source of severe injustice, and has raised concerns about the potential use of open-source AI to develop biological weapons. He has also repeatedly warned about pandemic risks, including in a widely viewed 2015 TED Talk.
The warning from Bill Gates came amid a growing international debate over the risks posed by increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems. Just days earlier, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei addressed the UN Security Council in New York, urging governments to cooperate on safeguards as AI capabilities advance. Amodei warned that, if poorly managed, AI could pose a risk to humanity as a whole, while both executives called for international standards and greater oversight.
Guterres: AI is advancing faster than the world’s ability to understand its consequences
Concerns over AI also featured prominently during the UN General Assembly’s high-level week. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that AI was advancing faster than the world’s ability to understand its consequences and called for international guardrails, saying that decisions with life-and-death consequences must never be handed over to machines.
He described runaway AI as one of the major existential challenges facing the world alongside climate change and deepening inequality.
Pope Leo XIV: Technology could be used for surveillance, manipulation and discrimination
Pope Leo XIV likewise warned of the risks accompanying rapid advances in AI, saying the technology could be used for surveillance, manipulation and discrimination, while sophisticated cyber capabilities and autonomous weapons could create new dangers to international security and peace without adequate safeguards and human oversight.
He called for technological progress to be matched by greater human responsibility and wise governance.
World leaders’ concerns about AI’s growing influence
World leaders also raised concerns about AI’s growing influence. French President Emmanuel Macron said governments should act before the consequences of AI become severe, particularly to protect children. Finnish President Alexander Stubb, for his part, described AI as potentially the most consequential technology in human history and said it would affect science, the economy, politics, security and humanity itself.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has also focused on the technology’s ability to manipulate information and human perception, warning that AI could enter people’s minds by imitating trusted voices and creating realities tailored to individual fear.
The convergence of warnings from technology executives, the UN leadership, religious authorities and national leaders has put AI safety and international oversight increasingly high on the global agenda, even as governments remain divided over how far regulation should go.
Public concern over AI
Public concern over AI also appears to be rising. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published this week found that 73% of Americans were concerned that AI companies were not doing enough to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences from the technology.
The survey also found that 39% believed AI was having a negative impact on society, the highest level recorded since Reuters/Ipsos began asking the question in March. Meanwhile, 55% said slowing the development of AI would be a good thing, while 73% said ensuring AI is developed safely and responsibly was more important than maintaining the US lead in the technology.