Bill Gates is deeply worried about AI, and he’s no longer staying quiet

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Bill Gates has been reflecting a lot on AI lately, and the process has triggered a stark awakening. Once a staunch AI optimist, the Microsoft cofounder is now deeply pessimistic about what AI means for our collective future.

Having been conspicuously quiet on AI issues recently, Gates is back with a nearly 6,000-word essay seeking to reclaim a central role in shaping the technology globally. Titled “The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical,” Gates warns the world is not remotely ready for what is coming. Worse still, he notes, “we are not preparing for it.”

Gates attempts to chart a path forward, but the essay largely treads familiar ground, identifying deeply entrenched, systemic hurdles familiar in matters of global governance while offering little in the way of novel solutions. The result is a bleak departure from the hopeful excitement about AI present in the...

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