Bill Gates issues a stark warning about AI - and Americans increasingly share his concerns

By Hannah Pedone

The Microsoft co-founder is urging technology leaders and government officials to better acknowledge the risks AI poses to jobs and human connections

In a Wednesday blog post, Bill Gates wrote that AI could cause many jobs to disappear forever.

According to Bill Gates, the world needs more time to prepare for a period of "social, political, and economic upheaval" brought on by artificial intelligence.

In a blog post on Wednesday, the Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder wrote that commentators are underestimating the extent to which AI will impact humanity. Meanwhile, he said, technology executives aren't being open enough about the risks.

Executives are "now saying to each other: 'Hey, man, don't say that. It's bad for us - the next trillion dollars we're trying to raise," he said in an interview with the New York Times published on Wednesday.

While executives may not be acknowledging the potential problems posed by AI, Americans are growing increasingly fearful.

An August poll from the Pew Research Center found that 52% of Americans say they are "more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life." That's up from 37% in 2021. Just 9% say that they are more excited than concerned, and about a third of Americans are equally excited and concerned about the technology.

In the blog post, Gates laid out three key risks that AI poses, one being that many jobs will "disappear forever."

See also: AI is killing worker confidence, but there's no sign it's muscling people out of their jobs on a massive scale

The second concern he identified is that AI will give bad actors the means to do more harm through things like bioweapons and computer viruses.

Further, he believes that AI could stunt children's development and replace human relationships.

He thinks the world needs a new system for managing the transition and said he doubts that current bureaucratic structures are equipped to deal with the challenges AI may introduce.

"The place to start is with a process for building the right institutions before the disruption forces governments into crisis mode," he wrote.

"National leaders should convene economists, technologists, labor experts, business leaders and workers themselves regularly to identify where existing institutions are failing and what new authorities may be needed," he continued.

He also argued for the importance of making sure that humans have a part to play in the workforce of the future, saying: "Allowing machines to take over a certain role will displace a large number of people who can't easily change jobs."

Gates also said we should consider taxing AI tokens and robots, which could nudge businesses toward hiring people instead of betting on more machines. Those taxes could also offset a drop in government revenue that would come as workers are pushed out of their jobs, pay less in taxes and rely more on a social safety net that will stretch government budgets.

-Hannah Pedone

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08-26-26 1052ET