IT之家 News on October 22: Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates was interviewed today by foreign media outlet The Verge. He said that people should prepare for two decades of disruptive change brought by AI, a period that could be very painful,and might even split society into two camps: one that embraces cutting-edge technology and one that rejects it.
IT之家 learned thatBill Gates published an article in August this year, arguing that people will go through a period of turbulence when transitioning to the AI era. He later called AI “the most dangerous thing humanity has ever come into contact with,” and believes AI makes nuclear weapons pale in comparison.
Gates said he is not an AI pessimist. He believes AI's progress over the past year has been astonishing, from the ability to write code and discover network vulnerabilities, to biological reasoning ability, to the ability to disrupt the job market — all of which demonstrate this. The powerful force humanity now possesses means all of the above will become reality, and society must be prepared.
Speaking of the “two decades of turbulence” he just mentioned, Gates believes that shortages of goods will decrease by then,and people must find a way to take control of the situation. There will be losers and winners during this period, as well as much turmoil, and people must get through this time before an era of prosperity arrives.
During that period, humans will have robots that can build houses, grow food, and perform surgery, and the vast majority of goods and services will no longer require human labor. Therefore, people must think about how they will spend these 20 years, and ponder profound questions such as philosophy and social behavior.
Of course, Gates' remarks do not mean the world will necessarily be turbulent twenty years from now; he believes this timing could be a few years earlier or later.Moreover, no one can say for sure when breakthrough achievements will come— for example, regarding progress in humanoid robot capabilities, some say two to three years will suffice, while others say it will take about eight years.