Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett has compared the development of artificial intelligence (AI) to the atomic bomb.
Just like that invention, the multibillionaire said Saturday (May 4) at Berkshire’s annual meeting, AI could produce disastrous results for civilization.
“We let a genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons,” said Buffett, whose comments were reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). “AI is somewhat similar — it’s part way out of the bottle.”
While Buffett acknowledged his understanding of AI was limited, he argued he still had cause for concern, discussing a recent sighting of a deepfake of his voice and image. This leads him to believe AI will allow scammers to more effectively pull off their crimes.
“If I was interested in investing in scamming, it’s going to be the growth industry of all time,” he said.
The WSJ report noted that Buffett’s comments come amid a debate among business leaders about how AI will impact society. And while not everyone compares the technology to the atomic bomb, there are those who worry AI will wipe out white-collar jobs.
Others see the upside to AI, like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has said AI could invent cures for cancer or allow more people in future generations to live to 100 years old.
“It will create jobs. It will eliminate some jobs. It will make everyone more productive,” Dimon said in a recent WSJ interview.
It is also transforming how companies train and upskill their employees, PYMNTS wrote last week, providing personalized learning experiences that can cut costs and improve efficiency.
The global AI-in-education market is projected to expand from $3.6 billion in 2023 to around $73.7 billion by 2033, according to a report from Market.US. But in spite of this impressive forecast, online education company Chegg, which has invested in AI tools, recently saw a decline in stock, something that underscores the sector’s volatility.
“Generative AI can provide a level of personalization in learning that is nearly impossible to achieve without this advanced technology,” Ryan Lufkin, global vice president of strategy at the education technology company Instructure, told PYMNTS.
“This means we can quickly assess what an employee knows and teach directly to their knowledge gaps, reducing the amount of time spent learning and improving time-to-productivity.”
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