Microsoft founder Bill Gates said people should consider artificial intelligence a threat and worry about its potential impacts. He said he couldn't understand why humanity didn't seem to be more concerned about the possibility of artificial intelligence becoming so powerful that it would become uncontrollable.
These concerns from Bill Gates are in direct contrast to the views of a top Microsoft executive, research director Eric Horvitz, who recently stated that he sees nothing threatening about artificial intelligence. As Eric Horvitz revealed, about a quarter of the company's research activities are focused on artificial intelligence.
For his part, however, according to the BBC, the Microsoft founder clarified that "I belong to the camp that is worried about super-intelligence. Initially, machines will do a lot of work for us and they will not be very smart. This will be positive, if we handle it properly. But after a few decades, (artificial) intelligence will become powerful enough to be a source of concern.".
Other science and technology figures, such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, have also expressed their fears about the deleterious effects of artificial intelligence and the increasing power of robots. The former has said that AI machines could "bring about the end of humanity," while the latter has said that AI "invoke demons" and is "the greatest existential threat there is."
On the other hand, Eric Horvitz appears more optimistic. "There are concerns that in the long term we will lose control of certain forms of intelligence. Basically, I don't think that's going to happen. We will be very forward-thinking about how we will utilize artificial intelligence systems and, in the end, we will be able to get incredible benefits from machine intelligence in all areas of life, in science, education, the economy and everyday life.".
Bill Gates himself admitted that, despite his reservations, if he were younger and working at Microsoft, he would probably be a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. But even now, he said, he is collaborating with Microsoft on a related program called “Personal Agent.”.
Finally, he did not fail to express his optimism that the company he founded and became famous thanks to Windows, "will see more progress than ever" over the next three decades - apparently thanks to the use of artificial intelligence (an example is the integration of the personal digital assistant Cortana in future Windows 10).
Source: tech.in.gr
