Bill Gates says a proposed pause on advanced AI development would not "solve the challenges" facing the industry. Gates told Reuters that it's difficult to grasp how a pause would work on a global level. His comments addressed an open letter, signed by AI and tech experts, asking labs to temporarily halt any work on advanced AI systems for six months.
- The
letter, presented last week, called for an immediate six-month break or
longer in training any systems that are more powerful than GPT-4 while the industry assesses AI's risks.
- Gates,
however, said he did not "understand who they're saying could stop, and
would every country in the world agree to stop, and why to stop."
- The Microsoft co-founder told Reuters that he thinks it would be better to concentrate on properly using AI as it develops.
- "Clearly, there are huge benefits to these things," he said, "What we need to do is identify the tricky areas."
- In a March blog post, Gates also compared AI to the creation of the PC, microprocessor, internet, and mobile.
- He
said "entire industries" will reorient themselves around AI, and
businesses "will distinguish themselves by how well they use it."
- Gates
also made the case that market forces won't naturally lead to AI
technologies that help the underprivileged but likely will do the
opposite.
- "With reliable funding and the right policies,
governments and philanthropy can ensure that AIs are used to reduce
inequity," he wrote.
