Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates spoke out against recent calls to pause Artificial Intelligence developments out of fear of the risk to society. Gates is now advocating for finding ways to use and embrace AI and says it isn’t likely to go away.
He said in an interview with Reuters that it would be increasingly difficult to pause AI on a global scale and the world should instead focus on how AI can be used to better society. “I don’t think asking one particular group to pause [AI] solves the challenges,” Gates told the outlet on Monday. He added, “Clearly there’s huge benefits to these things… what we need to do is identify the tricky areas.”
Artificial intelligence can be used in many areas that would benefit things like improving education and climate change, Gates said in his blog. The importance of AI lies not just in improving specific areas, but should be used to “make sure that everyone — and not just people who are well-off — benefits from artificial intelligence,” Gates wrote.
He explored other areas that could benefit from AI like the global healthcare system by freeing up time for workers for “things like filing insurance claims, dealing with paperwork, and drafting notes from a doctor’s visit.” Although there are many ways humans can benefit from AI, Gates acknowledged that the systems are imperfect, but those suggesting a pause should remember “Artificial intelligence still doesn’t control the physical world and can’t establish its own goals.”
Gates’ comments follow a recent letter from Elon Musk and other technologists, engineers, and AI ethicists who are suggesting a six-month pause for systems that are considered more powerful than OpenAI’s GPT-4.
The letter claims “AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs,” and calls AI an “out-of-control” race “that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control.”
Musk and others signed the letter calling for the government to step in and institute a moratorium if an immediate pause isn’t carried out and made public and verifiable.
Gates said he disagrees with the requested pause, telling Reuters it won’t stop the challenges the technology faces, but said the key is to focus on making it better. “This new technology can help people everywhere improve their lives,” Gates said in his blog.
“At the same time, the world needs to establish the rules of the road so that any downsides of artificial intelligence are far outweighed by its benefits, and so that everyone can enjoy those benefits no matter where they live or how much money they have. The Age of AI is filled with opportunities and responsibilities.”
While Gates doesn’t see how a pause on the tech could be productive, Italy moved to temporarily block access to ChatGPT last week and the country’s data privacy regulator said it would begin an investigation into the company behind the popular chatbot, OpenAI.