Bill Gates issues chilling warning over ‘dangerous AI’ and claims threat is ‘like nuclear weapons’ – as militaries prepare for deadly robot warfare
The billionaire says AI hasn't done much to improve humanity
KILLER robots pose the same threat to humanity as a nuclear apocalypse.
That's according to billionaire Bill Gates, who claims artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to both save and destroy the human race.
Speaking at an event at Stanford University in California, the Microsoft founder compared intelligent machines to deadly nuclear weapons.
"The world hasn’t had that many technologies that are both promising and dangerous," the way AI is, Gates said.
"We had nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, and so far so good."
Gates, 63, was referring to the potential benefits and risks of nuclear technology when it broke through in the mid-20th Century.
While nuclear power promised near-limitless energy, the technology also allowed us to build nuclear bombs.
Gates said AI has the potential to revolutionise healthcare around the world.
However, he added that "I won’t say there are that many"; examples of AI having improved society thus far.
While there are many ways we could end up using AI, its potential to change the face of modern warfare poses the biggest threat to humanity.
Militaries across the globe are already developing intelligent machines that kill humans with ruthless precision.
For instance, countries including Russia and the United States are reportedly making unmanned military jets and tanks that can target and fire at enemies with no human involvement.
Gates expressed concern that the US is beginning to slip as the world's leading nation for AI research.
"The US was in this totally unique position for most of these breakthrough technologies," he said.
"Now the US is still very much the leader, but not [in the] same dominant, dominant way."
In the past, the philanthropist has warned that super-intelligent machines pose a serious threat to humanity.
"I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence," Gates said in 2015.
"First, the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well.
"A few decades after that, though, the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern."
He's not the only tech mogul with AI doomsday concerns.
Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk worries killer robots are a "fundamental risk" to humanity.
"AI is a rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation than be reactive," he told the National Governors Association in 2017.
He went on to say: "I have exposure to the most cutting-edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned by it."
Fellow entrepreneurs, including slippery Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, disagree.
He believes AI will improve lives in the future, telling CNBC in 2017: "I think you can build things and the world gets better. But with AI especially, I am really optimistic.
"And I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios — I just, I don't understand it. It's really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible."
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