Warren Buffett Likens AI To The Invention of Atom Bomb

Has Progress Unleashed An Uncontrollable Monster?

Artificial intelligence that can generate human-like responses, known as generative AI, has garnered significant attention this year with apps such as ChatGPT. While AI chatbots are being used for various purposes, there are concerns about their misuse. There are also fears that AI will eliminate millions of jobs. Some tech leaders, including Elon Musk, have voiced concerns about the rapid growth of AI.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett recently shared his perspective on AI's quick evolution. At Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Buffett compared the creation of powerful AI to the development of the atomic bomb.

Mr. Buffett had a chance to try ChatGPT when his friend Bill Gates demonstrated it. Although impressed by its capabilities, Mr. Buffett expressed apprehension about the technology.

"When something can do all kinds of things, I get a little bit worried. Because I know we won't be able to un-invent it...We did invent, for very, very good reason, the atom bomb in World War II," the 92-year-old said. "It was enormously important that we did so. But is it good for the next two hundred years of the world that the ability to do so has been unleashed?"

Mr. Buffett said he believes AI will change "everything in the world, except how men think and behave."

"We didn't have a choice, but when you start something, well, Einstein said after the atomic bomb, he said, this has changed everything in the world except how men think. And I would say the same thing, maybe not the same thing, I don't mean that, but I mean with AI, it can change everything in the world except how men think and behave. And that's a big step to take," Mr. Buffett added.

Mr. Munger, Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman, also expressed skepticism about AI. "I am personally skeptical of some of the hype that is going into artificial intelligence. I think old-fashioned intelligence works pretty well," he said.

Recently, Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer in AI, said AI could pose a "more urgent" threat than climate change. He told the BBC that chatbots could soon surpass human brain capacity.