Bill Gates, once an AI optimist, now wishes the technology would slow down

For years, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he was optimistic that the world would become a better place thanks to artificial intelligence. He imagined the technology freeing people from work and speeding up inventions that would fight diseases and climate change.

But in a new essay published online Wednesday, Gates says he is worried that AI could do more harm than good, The Washington Post writes.

He said in an interview that it’s fair to say he’s now scared of what could go wrong with AI absent urgent intervention.

Over the past year, Gates said, he’s grown alarmed about the technology’s increasing capabilities to complete workplace tasks and go on hacking sprees. Most of all he’s worried about a lack of progress in regulating AI and minimizing its downsides.

For the first time in his life, Gates said, he finds himself wishing that a new technology would advance more slowly. “I’m surprised to feel this way,” Gates said.

In his essay, he suggests ways to respond to AI’s risks, including setting aside some jobs for humans․

Reuters writes Gates is looking to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year, eager to propose global efforts to mitigate the growing ‌risks posed by artificial intelligence.

The Microsoft co-founder told Reuters that he believes China might agree to restricting potentially dangerous AI model releases if the US took initiative on that first.

Gates also said he’d like to propose ​that countries monitor AI’s ability to create molecules and carry out biological attacks — something that would not get in the way of any tech industry’s development.