Bill Gates Warns AI Has Crossed Danger Thresholds

Gates said he was "stunned at the lack of concern and discussion outside of the industry." He has begun sounding the alarm as a "shrill voice" publicly with the new essay, the first of several he plans, and privately in conversations with industry, government and civil society leaders, according to the publication.

In the interview, Gates singled out bio-capabilities as especially chilling. "Any model that can make novel molecules should be monitored," he said. He said he views bioterrorism risk as "about 50 times more scary, more likely than a natural pandemic risk."

Gates also proposed human-reserved jobs and taxes on robots and tokens. Human-reserved jobs would preserve some societally agreed-upon jobs for people and could vary by nation, he said. A tax on robots and tokens would set aside money earned from AI usage that replaces human work. He said a robot tax has long been an idea of his.

Despite the warnings, Gates said he is optimistic about AI's potential in agriculture, health care, education and navigating bureaucracy. "Eventually we do get to abundance," he said. "But first? Turbulence. And lots of it." Asked why he is speaking out now, Gates said the industry has crossed thresholds and that within the industry there is reluctance to criticize itself. "Some companies are hiring fewer entry-level workers, which you'd have to call a pretty modest signal. But it's going to happen, and not in any long time frame," he said.