Bill Gates: AI Is Advancing Rapidly, Society Has Yet to Fully Debate Its Risks

Bill Gates, speaking at the Gates Foundation's Goalkeepers event in New York on September 22, said artificial intelligence is advancing at a striking pace. He noted that progress made roughly a year ago surprised him, as the technology could now perform programming tasks that took him years to master in his youth. Gates added that AI can write code, analyze code, find vulnerabilities, and potentially break into various systems.

Gates expressed concern that society has not yet engaged in sufficiently broad discussion about the risks of such exponential progress. While the tech industry has been debating these issues internally, he said, the wider public has not been fully involved. He described the current transformation as "ten sci-fi novels happening at once," noting that traditional science fiction usually revolves around a single major breakthrough, whereas AI could drive rapid change across multiple fields simultaneously.

Gates compared the rise of AI to "aliens arriving," emphasizing that AI is unlike any previous technology and should not be treated as a mere continuation of past innovations. He pointed out that these "aliens" were not brought by spaceships but created by humans and placed inside computers. He called for a full understanding of AI's dual nature, acknowledging both its potential to drive innovation in agriculture and public health and the risks it may bring.

During the speech, Gates also expressed regret over cuts in aid to low-income countries by some wealthy nations, saying that despite sustained economic growth and record corporate profits, some wealthy governments have become increasingly stingy. He urged restoring funding to meet basic survival needs and suggested that combining greater philanthropic investment with the appropriate use of AI could accelerate progress toward global equity.