Bill Gates has a dire warning about AI

Bill Gates is sounding the alarm on artificial intelligence. “Is this the greatest problem humanity has ever faced?” Gates asked the Telluride Film Festival this past weekend. “That is just a fact.” The panel, titled “AI AI AI,” was held in conjunction with the multimedia presentation “The Humanity Dilemma.” Part concert, part talk, the piece mixes live music and images with a dire warning about artificial intelligence, as part of a discussion on “what it means to stay human in the age of AI.” The appearance comes on the heels of a recent essay Gates wrote—a 6,000-word manifesto—about the harms of artificial intelligence, which he said carries the risk of mass unemployment and major social, political, and economic upheaval across the globe. “The transition to the AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history,” he wrote. “Right now, we are not preparing adequately for that transition. If the world takes the right steps, AI will be a force for good and leave everyone better off. . . . [However] I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts, and communities are confronting the challenges adequately. “I believe we need time to prepare for the period of social, political…