Bill Gates said artificial intelligence systems should be required to include safeguards and monitoring, calling it “completely irresponsible” to deploy AI without them.
In an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press, the Microsoft co-founder said the more immediate risk from AI is not the pace of development itself, but bad actors gaining access to the tools.
“It’s completely irresponsible not to require every AI to have these safeguards and monitoring capabilities,” Gates said.
Gates’ comments came after several chief executives at leading AI companies agreed to slow the pace of AI development. He said stronger regulation and safeguards were needed.
Anthropic has recently engaged Accenture to act as a third-party evaluator for its latest AI models.
Gates also addressed California Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a “kill switch” as part of a broader response to AI risks. Gates said he was not opposed to the idea, but said it would not address what he described as the more imminent threat.
He said the more pressing danger was the use of AI by people seeking to carry out bioterrorism or mass financial fraud.
“The most dangerous thing we’re facing right now is people with bad intent using AI,” Gates said during the interview.
“There’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools,” he said.
Gates said law enforcement and politicians should help shape what safeguards and monitoring AI companies must adopt. He added that such requirements would create added overhead for the industry, but would not cause a “dramatic slowing of what they’re doing.”
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